Legally Wicked
by The Darklight Angel
Summary: When Galinda's boyfriend Fiyero breaks up with her and heads to Shiz Law school, she follows to win him back. Failing to do so, she decides to show everyone how smart she can be. Legally Blonde, Wicked cast! Onesided Gliyero, eventual Gelphie, some Bessa.
1. Oh my Oz!

**Legally Wicked**

**Disclaimer – I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story. I also do not own Wicked, or Legally Blonde.**

* * *

"Did you hear?"

One girl whispered into another's ear. Her companion shook her head, and the girl giggled and whispered something into her ear, something that made an excited smile appear on her face and made her whisper into yet another girl's ear.

"Did you hear?"

"No, I haven't. What is it?"

That girl stifled a squeal and whispered the message along. Soon, the room was full of women whispering the secret to one another, the buzz of their talking becoming louder and more frantic and excited, until soon one girl just couldn't handle it anymore. She jumped up and shrieked in delight, the rest of the roomful of women joining her as they all cheered,

"GALINDA IS GETTING ENGAGED!"

**BANG!**

The roar of excitement stopped as the door burst open, and a short woman, decked out in all the latest trendy fashions, strutted in.

"Guys, guys, be quiet!" She yelled, her hands flapping as she motioned for them to calm down. Once the few remaining speakers were quiet, she cleared her throat and looked around the room.

"Now girls, as you all know, our president, Galinda Upland, is getting married!" She grinned, causing a chorus of ecstatic 'Oh my Oz!'

"Of course, it's not official, but who cares about it being official, because we all knew it was going to happen anyways!" She giggled. "But we know it's going to happen tonight. So being the sweet people we are, we've decided to-"

"-Have the surprise engagement party for Galinda **right now** instead of later!" Another woman came dashing into the room, waving her bracelet clad arms wildly around her head as the girls began to whoop, unfurling a banner that read _'Congratulations Galinda and Fiyero'._ The one who had been talking, however, pouted.

"Shenshen!" She whined, "I wanted to tell them!"

"Sorry Pfannee," She shrugged, not looking the least bit apologetic, "But I'm just so excited for our surprise party!"

"It won't _be_ a surprise if everyone doesn't hush up!" A third girl hissed as she rushed in. She was shorter than the rest (seeing as she was a munchkin), but her height was made up for by the three-inch heels she managed to carry herself on with perfect balance.

"So be quiet!" She put a finger over her mouth.

"Sorry Milla!" Shenshen apologized blithely, a dumb smile on her lips as she put a finger over her own mouth and let out the loudest 'shh' ever heard.

"Shut up!" Milla cried, slapping a palm to her own forehead as the rest of the girls all turned and glared at her.

"Has everyone signed the card?" Pfannee whispered into the silence. All of their heads bobbed as they nodded yes.

"Good!" She smiled. "Now everyone fall in line and let's start our engagement parade!"

"Everybody has their candle, right?" Milla asked. When everybody held theirs up, she went around and began to light each of them up. "Don't forget to smile, girls!"

In a single file line, all of the girls crept up the spiral staircase of their sorority house, stifling their cries of 'Oh my Oz!'

Hearing the noise, Milla snapped her head around to look at the gigglers.

"Guys, I'm serious!"

"Does everybody remember the creed?" Pfannee questioned after glaring at Milla for snapping at them in an extremely loud voice.

All the girls nodded and began to recite the creed that had been created specially for a member that was planning to get married.

"Make him a happy home, waste not his hard earned wage, and so he does not roam, strive not to look your age. Still, in your hour of need, let it be understood that no man could supersede our sacred bond of sisterhood!"

"Oh my Oz!" The girls began to squeal, louder and louder as they reached Galinda's room and slowly began to open the door. "Oh my Oz, Oh my Oz, oh my-"

Their chant was cut short, as they were greeted with the sight of...

Nothing.

Instead of seeing their president, all they saw was a pink and bedazzled **empty** room, with not a soul inside except for a little dog, staring quizzically at them from its bed.

"Guys... she's not here." Shenshen stated bluntly.

"Sweet Oz!" They shrieked. It was as if Pandora's Box was opened in that very moment, for the entire sorority began to chatter worriedly to one another, wondering where Galinda went.

"Maddie!" Milla exclaimed, falling to her knees as the white dog padded over to her. "Maddie, where is Galinda?"

The little white fur ball barked once.

"She doesn't have an engagement outfit?"

Maddie barked again.

"She's totally freaking out?"

The tiny dog wagged her tail.

"She's trapped in the old valley mill?!"

Maddie barked twice, almost shaking her little head.

"Oh, sorry," Milla smiled sheepishly at the others. "She's at the old valley mall!"

"No one should be left alone to dress and accessorize!" Pfannee claimed, scooping up Maddie at the same time. "Let's go girls!"

"Wait for me!" one last girl cried, pulling the curlers out of her hair as she tagged along after the stampeding crowd of women.

* * *

"It's almost there," Galinda said softly to herself as she observed her reflection in the mirror of the boutique. She ran her hands along the white dress that clung to her body, smoothing out the wrinkles that did not exist. "But..."

"The dress... has to be perfect. It has to make him kneel." She mused, twirling around and examining her backside in the mirror. "Yet it can't be desperate; I have to leave Fiyero his pride, after all..."

She smiled as the image of her soon-to-be fiancé appeared in her mind, but frowned as she looked at her dress.

"So bride has to be more... implied."

"Sweet Oz, there she is!" Somebody suddenly screamed.

Galinda turned to the voice, and a smile consumed her face as she saw all of her sorority sisters rushing across the store to her.

"Oh my Oz, you guys!" She breathed as they surrounded her, various people giving her hugs. "All this week, I've been so nervous. Whenever he looks at me now, I can just see the question running through his mind!"

"Help me out girls," Galinda breathed, her eyes twinkling as she clasped the hands of Milla and Shenshen and looked around to her group of sisters. "I can't wear something I bought on sale if I'm going to get engaged!"

"This is what we live for ladies!" Pfannee proclaimed, handing Maddie and her emerald-studded leash to one of her sisters. "We have to help Galinda!"

They all split up, every single person combing the store for a perfect dress. As the sorority girls crawled about the store looking for a perfect engagement dress, none of them noticed the woman at the desk slip out from behind the counter and swipe a gown off of the sales rack, ripping of the tag that said it was half price.

"Blonde's make commissions so easy." She smirked to herself, sidling up to Galinda and plastering on a smile.

"Excuse me!" She chirped, tapping the flaxen-haired beauty on the shoulder.

"Have you seen this yet?" She pulled out the dress from behind her back, showing it to Galinda. "It's the latest in fashion, and it would look perfect on a blonde such as you."

"Right!" Galinda bubbled, smiling pleasantly at the woman. "With a half-lip stitch on Vinkus silk?"

"Exactly!"

"The thing is though..." Galinda's sweet smile stayed on her face, even as she continued on. "You can't use a half-lip stitch on Vinkus silk because it will pucker. And you didn't just get this in because I saw it in last May's Ozmopolitan."

"Oh sweet Oz..." The frat girls snickered, as they watched the exchange between their president and the stunned sales-woman.

"I'm not about to buy last year's dress at this year's price!" Galinda laughed. She leaned in closer to the woman and said in the most pleasant tone,

"It may be perfect for a blonde miss, but I'm not _that _blonde. I've got eyes, you know."

"Oh Oz!" Someone exclaimed suddenly, practically running past the smirking frat girls and up to Galinda, a tag on her blouse stating that she was the store manager. "Galinda Upland, our best customer!"

She gave Galinda a hug, air kissing her cheeks, giving a pointed look to the saleswoman who had tried to trick Galinda that said clearly 'take your break'. Ashamed, the lady scurried off and the manager smiled.

"Ignore her, she hasn't been well." She motioned to the retreating saleswoman, rolling her eyes. "Anyways, I've got the perfect dress for you; latest from the Emerald City!"

She pulled a dress seemingly out of nowhere and handed it delicately to Galinda.

"Try it on, try it on!" Her sorority sister and the manager urged. Galinda giggled and flounced off to put it on.

"Well?" Milla asked after five minutes. "How-?"

Before she could finish her sentence, the door creaked open and Galinda stepped out in a beautiful pink dress.

"It's perfect!" She gasped. "And it's just my size! Group hug!"

As her sisterhood crowded around her and they all rocked and squealed in excitement, Galinda smiled brightly at the manager.

"I'll take it!"

* * *

"Do I look okay to you?" Galinda bit her li, wringing her hands together as she stood by the door.

Just moments before, there had been a knock on the wooden portal and all of her sisters had assembled to see her off. Clutching Galinda's designer handbag, Pfannee handed Galinda her bag and smiled.

"You look wonderful!" She insisted.

Galinda really was a vision; the dress that she had bought earlier that day was absolutely gorgeous, and best of all, in her trademark colour; pink. Her hair had been teased to perfection, and every inch of her radiated beauty. The president smiled at her friends, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. Right before Milla opened the door for her, Galinda glanced into the mirror that hung on the wall and tossed ehr head, her curls bouncing into perfect place just as her boyfriend stepped in.

All of the girls' eyes widened appreciatively as Galinda's boyfriend strutted inside. Decked out in a handsome dark red vest and pants, Fiyero Tiggular nodded politely to Galinda's sorority sisters, before walking up to Galinda and meeting her halfway.

Half the girls sighed, appreciating the romance as Fiyero leaned down and captured Galinda's lips in a passionate kiss, the pink-clad girl most definitely reciprocating it.

"Shall we go?" Fiyero grinned, offering her his arm as they broke apart.

"Let's." Galinda smiled back; wrapping her arm around his and snuggling up to his side as they turned around and headed outdoors.

This was the moment Galinda had been waiting for all her life and she couldn't wait for it to happen. She was so excited about it, but she was nervous too. At the moment, it felt as if millions of butterflies were fluttering around her stomach. However nervous she was though, she vowed to remember the date, for this date would change her life completely.

What she didn't realize was that while her date _would_ change her life, it wouldn't change it in the way that she expected.

* * *

_So, this is the first chapter of Legally Wicked. I was thinking about it for a while now, but only now I decided to write it. As expected, it's basically Legally Blonde set with Wicked characters. The world this story is set in is basically a mix of four worlds; both the book-verse of Wicked and the musical verse, and the movie and musical-version of Legally Blonde._

_Anyways, I need your opinion. I've got the majority of characters determined, but I still need to figure out who will be Paulette, Enid. Kyle (the UPS guy), and Brooke Wyndham. Who do you think should be who? I'm using characters from both the musical and the book, so suggest anybody you want(Also, don't suggest Elphaba for any of these roles, because I've already got a place for her)_

_Oh, and also, cookies for those who know where I got Maddie from ;)_

_Thanks for reading and helping me decide!_


	2. Time to get Serious

**Time to get Serious**

Here's the 2nd chapter of Legally Wicked. I'm really glad I got so many reviews for just the first chapter, so here's the next one and I hope you all keep on reading and enjoy.  
Also, thanks to my awesome beta **GeekGirl18!**

**Dislcaimer – I do not own Galinda, Fiyero, etc. Etc. I also don't own Legally Blonde.**

* * *

"You look absolutely gorgeous tonight." Fiyero smiled as he led Galinda into the fancy, expensive restaurant.

"Oh, Fiyero." She giggled, batting her lashes at him as he went ahead and pulled out her seat for her before sitting down himself.

"No, really, you're an absolute vision." He complimented her, staring into her eyes from across the table. "You're perfect."

"_You're_ perfect." Galinda shot back, a lovesick smile on her face.

"So we're perfect together!" They laughed. Had they not been surrounded by other couples as equally in love as them, they surely would have been getting some jealous stares from people wishing that they could have a love as strong as the perfect couple's.

"I'm the luckiest guy in the world." Fiyero claimed. "Most men would kill to have a girl who looks as beautiful as you do."

"Most women dream about having a boyfriend as great as you." Galinda said, smiling sweetly at him.

He chuckled and they fell into a comfortable silence. Moments later, Fiyero spoke up again.

"Galinda... I think we both know why we are here tonight."

"It's not a surprise, really. We know it would come sooner or later."

He looked deeply into her eyes, as he said "So Galinda, give me your hand, because I want to get serious with you."

Watching him all the while, she reached out her hand to clasp Fiyero's larger one. She froze halfway as her eyes flicked down to her hand, and she began to move once again immediately instead stretching out her left hand to him, her bare ring finger prominent.

'Fiyero," She started, "I always thought that-"

"Um, dear?" Fiyero interrupted. "I wasn't finished yet."

"Oh, right!" Galinda laughed awkwardly. "Sorry."

"Anyways, Galinda, we need to consider our future." Fiyero continued, unfazed by the interruption. "And I have to say that it is VERY important to me. I'm usually a person who's brainless, but if we want to take what we want without holding back any longer, this needs to be said."

"Oh, Fiyero..." Galinda sighed lovingly. "I understand completely."

"Well, Galinda," He beamed at her, stroking the back of her hand with a thumb gently.

"Baby," He said, making Galinda smile again.

"Yes?" She asked in a breathless whisper.

"I think that you and I-"

"I do!" Galinda squealed, jumping up from the table. "I do, I do, I do, I-"

"-Should break up." He finished flatly.

"I'll give you my hand, I'll marry you, I'll-WHAT!?"

Galinda gasped, suddenly tripping and staggering as she fell. Fiyero leapt out of his seat and grabbed Galinda's hands, looking sheepish as he gently led her back to her seat.

"Dear-"

He couldn't even end his sentence as Galinda suddenly squeaked, tears building up in her eyes as she pointed at him.

"Sorry!" Fiyero winced, sitting back down, his eyes widening as he realized he was in front of her on a single bended knee.

"You're... you're breaking up with me!?" She gaped. "I- I thought you were.... proposing!"

"Well, Galinda, I've been thinking for one of the only times in my life, and I just figure that it's the right thing to do!" Fiyero said.

"And... I did think about marrying you, baby, but... well... the problem is..." He struggled to find the right words.

"Well... you know that I like to take chances. I'm a prince as well, and so I enrolled into a school on a lark, and I've been accepted-"

"Fiyero," She spluttered, "You're Mister dancing through life! You _hate_ school!"

"But this is different!" He explained weakly. "I got into Shiz, the big fancy law school, and-"

"Fiyero, what do you need laws for?" She whimpered.

"Oz knows that you've broken at least five of them-"

"Galinda, one day I'm going to be expected to take on duties in the Vinkus! Duties that have to do with running a _very_ large area and population, and I'm going to be good at it, I can't have someone like you there! They'll expect someone serious to be at my side-"

"So you're breaking up with me because I'm not serious enough for you!?" Galinda near-shouted, her tears streaming angrily down her face. "Because they won't accept me to be the kind of wife a leader should have? What is it, Fiyero!? Are my boobs too big for them!?"

THAT got people's attention. All the couples stopped being so wrapped up in each other, and started to pay attention to the blonde who had screamed about her breasts, and her uncomfortable looking boyfriend.

"Your boobs are _fine_, Galinda." He mumbled, eyes flicking back and forth between the other restaurant patrons and the hysterical woman in front of him.

"You promised me you would always love me, Fiyero!" She sobbed.

"W-well, I _do_ love you Galinda!" He protested, "But I just can't marry you!"

Suddenly, she couldn't take it anymore. Galinda began to wail at the top of her lungs, restraining her cries no more. Even as the other customers (and some of the staff) began to whisper and throw dirty looks at Fiyero, he just smiled as best he could, while Galinda made cries that were so high pitched that they would rival those of her precious dogs.

Still crying a river and sobbing the Nile, Galinda got to her feet. Blinded by her tears, she dashed out of the room, her bawls audible even as the door slammed shut after her.

Left among the other couples all alone, Fiyero sighed heavily and called for a waiter.

"Check, please."

* * *

"Galinda, darling, just wait-"

After the dinner, Fiyero had driven her home. Through the entire trip, Fiyero had tried to speak to Galinda. However, it was to no avail. For no matter what he tried she would not respond to him.

They were at the front door to her house now, and though the driver was waiting for him, Fiyero still chased after Galinda.

"If you would just take a minute to listen..."

"What do you want Fiyero?" She snapped, turning back to face him, defiant, even though there were tear tracks staining her perfect cheeks.

"Baby, I have my future to think about. I thought that maybe you would understand-"

"I _can't_ Fiyero! I just can't!"

She stomped her foot on the ground, a childish action (and a stupid one, considering how expensive her designer shoes were) but it served its purpose, emphasizing just how strongly she felt.

"You say that I'm not serious, Fiyero..."

"Galinda..."

"But I am seriously in love with you." She whispered, tears filling her eyes again. This time however, she did not let them fall. She just turned back around, refusing to look at his face any longer.

At that point, Fiyero realized there was nothing left he could do or say to make her feel better. Heaving another heavy sigh, he hopped into his ride and drove away, leaving Galinda standing on the porch, alone.

Though her makeup was ruined and her heart was breaking, Galinda held her head high. She stepped inside the house, where her sadness was overcome by shock as she saw all her sisters waiting, almost exactly in the same spots where they had been when she left.

"Congratulations, Galinda!" They all shrieked, rushing up to hug her. It was only Pfannee, who noticed that something was off.

"Galinda? What's wrong?" She asked over the cheers and celebrations.

Galinda said nothing. She just bit her lip, smudging the perfectly applied pink gloss as she finally let her tears roll down her face once again.

"It's over." She croaked, before kicking off her shoes, lacking her usual finesse and grace, and sprinted as fast as she could up the stairs.

As the door to her room shut and all the girls were left staring blankly at the door, Shenshen blinked.

"Um... did anyone notice that she didn't have the ring?"

* * *

"Galinda? Dear?" A girl asked cautiously, knocking on the door to the woman's room. "Can I come in?"

"Just a clock tick!" Someone called out from inside the room.

Galinda, however, said nothing.

A minute later, Pfanneee slipped out of the room, Sheshen beside her.

"Is she okay?" The girl asked, peering worriedly into the room.

"She's still in there, snuggled up with Maddie, bawling her eyes out." Pfannee replied, to which the girl pouted.

"She's been in there for twelve days!" She exclaimed.

"I know, it's terrible!" Milla exclaimed, emerging from another room with several of her sisters following her.

The sorority girl had indeed been in her room for nearly two weeks. Ever since the night that she had come back with a bare finger and a broken heart, she had holed up in her room, only allowing sporadic visits from anyone other than the other frat girls.

"This is all Fiyero's fault!" One woman cried. "If it weren't for him, Galinda wouldn't be so... so... un-Galinda like!"

There was a murmur of agreement among the women.

"He should be shot for what he's done!" Another yelled, causing an even louder shout of agreement.

"He's not even that hot." Pfannee snorted.

"I think he is." Shenshen smiled dreamily.

"Well, you're a slut." Pfannee sneered.

Shenshen's blissful expression turned into shock.

"Look who is talking!" She shot back fiercely.

"Um, Shenshen..." Milla piped up rather timidly. "May I remind you of spring break last year?"

Shenshen tried to respond, but it was drowned out by the sudden wave of whoops and laughter. Each girl, remembering the scene quite clearly, began to do their own rendition of the drunken dance that Shenshen had done the year before. She had had one too many drinks, and had gotten up on a table and began to dance, amidst a group of boys to boot.

"That's a lie!" A voice moaned suddenly.

Realizing it was from Galinda's room, Milla, Pfannee and Shenshen ran inside, the rest of the sorority girls crowding around the door and squabbling amongst themselves for a better view.

"Galinda?"

Inside, Galinda was lying in her pink and frilly bed. But instead of looking like her normal dazzling self, she was looking tired and haggard. Her blonde hair, usually curly and perfect, was messy and dishelved. Her entire body was swallowed by the massive, fuzzy pink blanket she had wrapped around herself, and the mountains upon mountains of pillows resting all around her. The only visible parts of her body were her arms and neck and head.

"It's a lie, it's a lie, it's a lie!" Galinda repeated her face buried in her hands. Maddie stood beside her, nudging Galinda's hands with her nose, staring bemusedly at her owner.

"What's a lie, sweetheart?" Shenshen asked, seating herself beside Galinda as she began to stroke her hair soothingly.

Galinda just shook her head and let out a muffled sob. She removed a hand from her face, and pointed to something on the floor; it was a novel, entitled 'forever'. Emblazoned on the cover, there was a man and a woman staring passionately into each other's eyes.

"Oh." Shenshen said quietly.

Galinda groaned heavily (at which half of the girls outside cringed to hear) and slowly pulled off her covers. Clad in a bathrobe in her trademark pink, she rolled out of bed with Maddie tucked underneath an arm, and made her way to the door where all her sister's leaned in to give her a sympathetic embrace.

"Galinda, honey, it's so good to see you!" One girl cooed, the rest of them following suite.

"Look!" Milla smiled, holding up a stack of glossy covered books for Galinda to see. "We brought you new magazines!"

"We got all your favourites right here!" Another patted the magazine stack fondly.

"Thank you girls, but it may take me a lot more than the annuals to make me feel completely like myself again." Galinda smiled sadly. Nevertheless, she hugged Milla in appreciation, handed Maddie to another sister, and took a journal, flipping through it aimlessly.

"Galinda you're just going to have to hold on then," Shenshen said, "Because I don't think that we can make a trip to the beauty parlour this early."

The girls all shared a tiny laugh, stopped abruptly by galinda's sudden scream.

"Wh-what is it?" Milla panicked. "What's wrong?"

"Pictures of Shiz."She mewled as the women around her pushed and shoved each other to look at the pictures in question.

Several photos of the school were shown, some of them of the building itself, but most of them with students.

"Pictured left," Pfannee read, "Shiz student Muffy smiles for the camera."

"Muffy." Shehshen giggled, the rest of her sisters joining in as they laughed at the name of the girl.

"Hold on!" Galinda breathed, her eyes widening as she clutched the magazine tightly. "This... this is the kind of woman that Fiyero wants!"

"He wants someone who suits his tastes right now! He wants someone serious for a change; someone who is lawyerly! He wants... he wants..."

"Someone who is practically deformed!" One girl said sceptically, gazing at the picture of the buck-toothed girl with overbite and thick glasses.

"No!" Galinda beamed. "Girls, I've gotten a brilliant plan!"

"And that is...?" Milla asked.

"I've decided!"

A confident gleam came to Galinda's eyes.

"I'll become who Fiyero wants; a law student! I'll get into Shiz and I'll show Fiyero how we still deserve each other!"


	3. What You Want

**What You Want**

Disclaimer – I do not own Galinda, or Fiyero, or Milla, nor anyone else mentioned within this story. I also do not own Wicked or Legally Blonde.

* * *

"Law School!?"

"Yes, popsicle!" Galinda giggled. She was currently at her childhood home, visiting her parents. After lunch and general chit-chat about her life and living with her 'sisters', Galinda had finally brought up the subject of Shiz.

"Sweetheart, whatever for?" He arched a graying brow, sipping from his drink leisurely as he sat in his chair, behind the luxury quoxwood desk that he had in his personal study.

"I think it would be a nice change, daddy." Galinda explained a sweet smile on her face as she shrugged.

"But dear… you _do_ realize that law school is for boring, ugly, serious people, right?" He asked, adding in "And darling, you are not boring, not ugly, and most definitely not serious."

"He's right, Galinda." Galinda's mother (a spitting image of her daughter with a few age lines) agreed, standing next to Galinda's father.

"Momsie!" The blonde huffed.

"Now now, dear," Galinda's mother smiled. "Don't get so worked up about it. You must admit that it's true."

"Galinda, do you know just how expensive it is to get into a place like Shiz?" He questioned, looking at her over the rim of his drinking glass.

"There would be more opportunities for you here in Gillikin, dear." Her mother reasoned. "You could… become a model, a lady; pursue a more glamorous lifestyle like we've been coaxing you to do!"

"Plus, there's the matter of Shiz itself." Galinda's father said.

"Shiz is farther down south; Galinda. It's near the Emerald City, and people there are very, _very _different than people in Gillikin. "

"What do you need down there that you can't get here?" Her Momsie asked.

"Love, Momsie!" Galinda cried, exasperated. She froze however, at the sudden look of surprise and confusion on her parent's faces.

"Love?" Her Popsicle asked.

"I mean… a love for knowledge." Galinda lied, her smile betraying nothing. Her parents, Oz bless them, were supporting and they had adored Fiyero… but she didn't think that they loved him enough to send her to a school that would cost them a small fortune just so she could win him back.

"Momsie, Popsicle," She pleaded, her eyes sparkling with the charm she had perfected at young age to get what she wanted, "Shiz could lead me to become the person that I'm meant to be!"

"And besides," She grinned.

"Doesn't a brilliant and beautiful woman make a better public figure than an unintelligent one?"

Galinda's father finally caved. A grin quite like his daughter's plastered itself to his face as he sighed, shook his head, and said,

"If you get in, then I'll pay whatever needs to be paid."

He could only smile even more as Galinda squealed and leapt on him in delight.

* * *

"Are you sure you want to do this, Galinda?" Milla asked, peering at the blonde woman. There were so many books, that Milla had to stand on tiptoe to be able to look over the tall stacks to actually see Galinda.

"Of course I do!" Galinda picked up a book and began to scan her eyes over the table of contents. She squinted at it, for it was in very small print.

"If I want to get Fiyero back, this is the only thing I can do. I _have _to get in."

Well, dear, it's going to take a lot more than love and ambition into Shiz, even with love and ambition as strong as yours." Milla told her, as she moved around the pile and knelt beside her taller friend, sitting primly on the floor in a way that her dress would not get ruined.

"To get into Shiz, I hear that you need to have extremely high marks.

"Milla, I do have the highest average out of everybody in this house!" Galinda reminded her.

"Yes, but Galinda, your major is _sorcery."_ Milla pointed out. Galinda visibly deflated for a moment, but almost instantly, a strong, determined smile appeared on her face.

"I can do it." Galinda nodded resolutely.

"But that's not even the half of it." Milla grimaced. "You also need to submit an entrance essay that will knock them off of their feet. As well as that, a letter of recommendation is needed, preferably from people in positions of power: your teachers, mentors, so on and so forth."

"Well, that won't be a problem either!" Galinda proclaimed.

At this, Milla couldn't help but sigh.

"Galinda, darling,, you know that I support you. But I have to wonder… are you sure you can handle this!?!"

Galinda turned and looked at Milla, a firm, driven look in her eye. She grasped Milla's shoulders firmly, and bent over so that she was staring directly into the munchkin's eyes.

"Shiz cannot refuse me." She told her friend. "And do you know why?"

Suddenly, she pulled Milla into a tight hug, her eyes clouding over with a dreamy mist.

"They can't refuse a love that's so pure. Don't lawyers feel love too?"

Milla could not respond, for she was too busy struggling to free her face from Galinda's ample bosom.

* * *

"-And so, if this term is so, then how would this question be answered?"

One of Galinda's sisters stared intently at her, the book of questions still clutched in her hand as she waited for Galinda's response. Galinda opened her mouth to respond, her eyes lighting up eagerly as she remembered the answer. However, before she could speak, a loud whoop caught their attention. Moving to the open window (where the source of their distraction had come from) both girls looked outside to see what all the fuss was about.

A large group of people, mostly men, were outside, cheering and laughing loudly and raucously as they paraded and danced around a keg of ale. The other girl was the first to turn away, knowing how important study time was (for she was aiming to enter a prestigious school herself, although not Shiz). She paused on her way back to the study table as she realized that the sorority president had not followed her. She went back and gently tried to tug Galinda in the direction of the table.

Galinda shook her head in protest, resisting as Shenshen came rushing out of the house and into view, joining in the wild celebrations. Her sister just shook her head.

"Not for you, dear." She smiled sadly. "I know it's tempting, and I wish I could be out there too. However, if you really want to get into Shiz, you need to study; you only have a score of one hundred thirty four, and you need at _least_ one seventy-five."

Galinda could only whimper as Shenshen began to do an even crazier drunken dance than the one she had done the year before.

* * *

"…and I'm done!"

Galinda threw down her pen as one of the other women took the practice paper and began to look over it critically.

The blonde looked up as the doors to the house flew open, and several of the sorority girls stumbled in. they all looked dazed, tired, and extremely satisfied. Even though they all looked like they had seen better days, they were all still laughing loudly, and each had the same, content smile was on their faces. Shenshen was even still swaying her hips to the music that was playing outside.

"Oh my Oz, Galinda, this has to be the best spring break we've ever had." Shenshen laughed. Her voice was breathless from excitement and fun. "Come and join us!"

As they all joined in with Shenshen and began to beg and plead for Galinda to join them, the woman in question felt herself slowly begin to warm up to the idea. She _had_ been studying rather hard lately, and she supposed her could use a break…

"Well…"

Galinda's will was strengthened again, and with an apologetic smile, she rejected their offer as the girl handed her paper back to her.

"One fifty one. You're still not Shiz material."

* * *

"Here you go."

Galinda nodded to the postman, thanked him as he handed her a letter, and practically slammed the door shut in his face as she clutched the envelope tightly in a white-knuckled fist.

"Girls!" She screamed. "Girls! Come quickly!"

Each woman tore themselves from what they were doing, and came to Galinda's side immediately. Some were even panting, for they had had to run as fast as they could from across the house.

"What is it, Galinda?" Pfannee asked, supporting an exhausted and hung over Shenshen.

"My results have come back!" Galinda breathed her arm quivering as she glanced down at the letter in her hand.

"Crack it open already," Shenshen muttered quietly, rubbing at her temple as everyone else broke out into nervous and excited murmurs. "The excitement and this headache are killing me."

With shaky fingers, Galinda took the bedazzled letter opener that Milla handed her. Her hands were trembling so badly that she nearly cut herself as she slit open the letter. Once it was open though, she slid out the results, and buried herself in the page, holding the piece of parchment but an inch away from her face.

"Well?" Milla gulped, wringing her hands together nervously for her friend. "What did you get?"

The paper fell out of Galinda's hand, and slowly drifted to the floor. Galinda stared blankly into space for a moment, before she screeched out her answer,

Right after she did, every single woman broke out into cheers and roars of happiness. They all circled Galinda's, lifting her up and placing her on their shoulders, the diminutive blonde surfing the crowd as they paraded around their house, some even throwing handfuls of celebratory glitter into the air.

"I got a one seventy-nine!"

* * *

"So, gentlemen, these people will be admitted to Shiz." The man, dressed in a tweed suit, said, his two colleagues nodding and murmuring their agreement.

"And now, onto Miss Galinda Upland."

He picked up the folder that held her document in it, and opened it.

"Who was kind enough to send in a headshot." He blinked, surprised, picking up the photograph of the blonde who was smiling flirtatiously and winking.

The man cleared his throat to read the essay, but stopped and paused as he heard a noise behind him. Turning around, he realized that his two colleagues were fighting over the headshot.

"Gentlemen, please!" He bellowed, glowering at them. Both men froze immediately, and righted themselves, fixing their mussed hair and crooked glasses and ties as they gently put the picture of Galinda down.

With one last glare at the two others, he cleared his throat again and began to read aloud the essay that had been sent in by Galinda.

"My name is Galinda Upland," He read, "And this is why I should be accepted into Shiz."

Although he was stunned by the straightforward manner of which the essay had been written in (there wasn't even a true introductory paragraph!) he continues to read on.

"As the president of my sorority, I have extremely strong leadership skills, and I am also quite attentive. I can take control of a room full of people, and keep them captivated and at attention for the entire time that I am in that room, and can cater to their every need."

Attached to the bottom of the page was yet another photograph. Dressed smartly in a black and white dress, her hair was tied up and she looked serious and ready for business. She stood at the head of a large, grand table, and on either side of the long table were rows and rows of women, all wearing the same attire as her and staring with total attentiveness at Galinda, some with their hands raised up in the air.

Coughing to get the attention of his colleagues once again, for their gazes had suddenly glazed over at seeing the many beautiful young women in the picture, the man turned the page.

"In my life, I always, and have always managed to inject elements of the court into my daily business."

Beneath, just like on the previous page, there was another photo of Galinda. This time, instead of her at the front of a table, it was her pointing an accusing finger in a young man's face, the man in question looking very confused and ashamed as Galinda yelled at him. A caption scribbled underneath the photograph read 'Objection!'

Flipping the page yet again, all three men were greeted with another short sentence and a photo, well… yet again.

"I also have a very sharp memory." The sentence read.

In the picture, Galinda seemed to be sitting in a study or a library of some sort, a pair of glasses perched upon her nose. Book un-opened in front of her, she was not staring at it but at the girl beside her in the photo who seemed flustered and confused. Galinda seemed to be telling her some sort of fact that seemed t come from her book. The golden letters of the tome cleanly stated 'law and justice' in gold letters.

Turning to the final page, all three men gaped at the final picture and line.

"So Shiz, this is why you should let me, Galinda Upland, become a student!"

Underneath the line was a single photo of Galinda, by herself. However, it was a full body shot this time, and in it, Galinda was smiling flirtatiously and winking at the camera.

Promptly flipping the folder shut, therefore startling the other two mean out of their stunned and nearly drooling state, the examiner cleared his throat once more.

"…So, gentlemen?" He asked the other two.

"This Galinda _does_ have a high average." One man said, wiping his brow with the back of his hand.

"Yes," The head admitted, "But her major was _sorcery._ Gentlemen, what does sorcery have to do with law?"

"Well, she would be the first sorceress admitted to Shiz!" The third man reasoned.

"And isn't that was Shiz is about? Diversity and… multiculturalism?"

Unable to find any counter-argument, the leader just sighed, and stared one last dumbfounded time at the headshot of the blonde.

"Galinda Upland… welcome to Shiz."


	4. Welcome to Shiz

**Welcome to Shiz**

Disclaimer – I do not own Galinda, Elphaba, Fiyero, or any other characters mentioned within this story. I also do not own Shiz, nor any places mentioned in this story.

* * *

Days, weeks, and months flew by. Soon, before anyone realized it, the summer break ended. It was time for students from all over Oz and of all levels of education, whether they were going to small one-room grade schools or huge luxurious colleges, to pack away their summer clothes and begin yet another year of schooling. It seemed that everywhere, the groans of all these people could be heard, for they all were quite obviously reluctant to let their time away from school go.

But, for a certain bubbly and blonde haired woman, the school year could not start soon _enough_.

This was her big chance; her chance to become a new person. This was her chance to begin her life anew. This was her chance to get back the love of her life and show him just how bright they shone together.

"And it all begins today." That very woman, Galinda Upland, whispered to herself as she beamed up at the building that would be her home for the next few years. Tucked underneath her arm inside a fashionable handbag, Maddie barked happily.

"This is where we're going to live, Maddie!" Galinda chirped to her dog as she entered the building. "So let's make the best of it, okay?"

* * *

The halls of Shiz were full of people, and Galinda couldn't help but let a giddy smile fall upon her lips. Socializing was what she thrived at, after all.

She was about to work her charm over the flocks of Shiz students, about to chat and giggle and flirt and flounce, when she saw _him_. And when Galinda did, her smile changed from giddy to sly.

Tossing her head gently, the socialite held onto her handbag tightly. She began to walk at a moderate pace down the hall toward Fiyero. The clicks that her heels made resounded sharply around the hall even over the dull roar of the other students, and as she walked by, people stopped to turn and look at the tiny but beautiful blonde. Galinda ignored them though – she only wanted one person's attention.

As she came closer to Fiyero (who was examining a paper tacked up on a wall) she put a little more sway into her hips, and stood just a bit taller. As Galinda passed by him, Fiyero glanced at her for a moment, but immediately went back to looking at the flyer.

Galinda's heart raced – had he seen her? Or, even worse, was he... _ignoring_ her?

It turned out that Galinda didn't have to worry after all though, as Fiyero suddenly froze, and (quite literally) did a double-take.

"Galinda?" He gaped, mouth hanging wide open as he stared at her with wide, incredulous eyes.

Breathing out an inaudible sigh of relief, Galinda fought back the urge to smile triumphantly as she turned around to face him, slapping a hand dramatically over her heart.

"Oh my Oz!" She cried out, acting genuinely shocked. "Fiyero..? Why, I _completely_ forgot that you go here!"

Fiyero stared at her. His jaw stayed dropped for a few more seconds, before he closed it and gulped.

"What... what are you _doing_ here, Galinda?" He asked, staring at his former girlfriend.

"I go here." She explained curtly.

"You mean you're going to some other place here in this town... right?"

"No, silly," She laughed, her voice like a tinkling bell. "I attend school here, at Shiz!"

Fiyero's mouth had not stayed closed for even a minute before it slackened and fell open gain. The prince looked at her with a face that was akin to an expression one might find on a goldfish.

"You... _you_ were admitted to **Shiz!?"**

Before she could respond, a bell rang out in the distance, signalling the beginning of classes.

"That means it's time to go." Galinda said airily, heading to the door that they stood by. "My class is right here."

"...Mine, too." Was all Fiyero could say.

"Lovely!" Galinda giggled. "Let's catch up once classes are over!"

With that, she crossed the threshold of the door, a still gawking Fiyero following slowly after her.

They were the last ones in the room, and the door slammed shut behind them. Fiyero, though stunned, quickly took an empty seat in the furthest row back from the front. Galinda considered following him, but saw no more available chairs in that row. So instead, she took the final empty seat in the front, dazzling the two peers sitting beside her with her smile. The class fell into quiet conversation, as they all began to converse amongst themselves about the class and the teacher.

Suddenly, the door to the class swung open. All the students immediately stopped talking, and all, like one single being, craned their heads forward, hoping to get a glimpse of the professor whose reputation preceded him.

What they saw was _not _their new professor, but it shocked them more than any professor ever could.

What they saw was a woman with flesh as green as sin.

The class sat in a stunned stupor. Some covered their mouths to hide their horrified expressions. Others, (like Fiyero) gawked with open mouths. One girl slumped over in her chair, and nearly fainted. Galinda simply stared with eyes as wide as saucers.

The green woman however, simply glowered at everything and everyone in the room.

"What is it?" She asked them all, a mocking tone of innocence in her voice. "What are you all looking at?"

"Do I have something in my teeth?" She opened her mouth for all to see, and Galinda was startled to see pearly white. While her reactions and thoughts were probably less extreme compared to others, Galinda couldn't help but expect something more... monstrous, she supposed.

Galinda got the monstrous qualities she had been expecting a moment later as the tall lanky woman spoke again.

"Alright fine- we might as well get this over with." She growled, dropping the innocence act. Galinda was glad that she did- hearing her speak a bit more gruffly, just as she was now, suited the green woman much better.

"No, I'm not seasick, and yes, I've always been green." She counted off her answers on a single hand, the hand itself just as verdant as the rest of her.

"And no, I did not eat grass as a child." She finished, ticking off a third finger before sighing heavily.

"I'm Elphaba Thropp." She introduced herself in a tired, droning voice. Clearly, she had given the same routine way too many times before.

"I graduated last year from Shiz, as the top student in my class. I help your professor part time as an assistant. Are there any other questions?"

One boy in the back raised his hand.

"None? Good."

The boy lowered his hand quickly. Although it was barely visible, Galinda saw a small smirk form on Elphaba's lips as she caught the movement through the corner of her eye.

"The Wizard will be here soon." Elphaba told them, shifting slightly. Galinda, always the one to take the time to note the fashion of others, couldn't help but notice how her dark blue jacket seemed almost threadbare in places.

"He's just coming back from his daily bath in sheep's blood." The green woman said nonchalantly. Spotting a sick expression on one girl's face, she smirked more visibly. "Or so the rumours- which, I can assure right now are not true- say, at least."

Indeed, there were many rumours flying around about their new professor. No one bothered to remember his real name, for his legal prowess was so well respected and admired by all that he was referred to as 'the Wizard'.

"I would ignore all those rumours, though." Elphaba said airily. "Because somehow, he always finds out who believes in them and who doesn't. I can tell you that if you still believe that he bathes in the blood of sheep, you will be in for a world of trouble and-"

Suddenly, Elphaba stopped abruptly. Immediately, she glanced down at her feet, and knelt down. As she got up, Galinda saw that she was cradling a small, fluffy bundle in her arms, the green standing out in stark contrast against the snow white of whatever she was holding.

'_That's funny.'_ Galinda thought idly. '_If I didn't know any better I'd say she's holding a dog.'_

'_**...WAIT.'**_

"Does she belong to anyone?" Elphaba asked dryly, arching an eyebrow as Maddie panted in her arms, the dog's little pink tongue hanging out of her mouth.

"Maddie!" Galinda gasped, ignoring the stares of all those in the class as she hopped out of her seat and rushed over to Elphaba, who was currently flinching away from the canine's attempts to lick her face.

Elphaba glanced down at Maddie, and then back to Galinda. "You know, I don't think dogs are allowed in class." She quipped.

"Oh, Maddie's not a dog." Galinda blinked. "Maddie is family."

Elphaba glanced at Galinda a second time. The blonde swore that for a moment, there was a hint of a smile on her green face, but before she had another second to confirm if it was really there or not, the door to the classroom burst open and a man strode in.

He was dressed sharply enough, in a grey open trench coat and a pinstriped black ensemble. Although he was somewhat short and bespectacled and had iron gray hair, he exuded an aura of power and sophistication. He was smiling – but, as a woman who could fool even herself with her plastic smile, Galinda could see right through that friendly grin to the stern man underneath.

"Ladies, gentlemen," He nodded to his class. "Now, today is your first day at-"

He paused as he caught sight of Elphaba, his eyes sliding from the dog in her arms to her face.

Without missing a beat, Elphaba nodded quickly.

"I'll just hold onto her later, after class."

With that (and a glance back at Galinda) Elphaba left. Normally, Galinda would have throw a fit over being forcibly seperated from Maddie (who went with her everywhere) but the excitement of class overwhelmed her, making her be inclined to sit and stay instead.

"Anyways," the Wizard continued after Galinda had scurried off back to her chair, "When you choose to become a lawyer, from the moment you begin to study for it, you are bound to hear a joke that says 'a lawyer is a shark.'"

There was a general murmur in the air and a few chuckles at the joke, but the moment that the Wizard's slight smile dropped away every single person's attention was back onto him.

"Ignore that," He said flatly. "It's nonsense, for only some of you will become these sharks, while the rest..."

A sly smile spread across his face.

"The rest of you are chum."

He began to pace around the classroom, looking steadily at each of the men and women, his gaze never wavering.

"Let's face it, children." He told them, "Being here at Shiz... being at _any_ law school, for that matter, is a waste of your time and money, unless you truly _do_ become like a shark and find the blood in the water."

Picking up his class list from his desk, he scanned the paper and looked back up to his students.

"Avaric?" He called out.

"Yes?" A man with an arrogant smirk and luxurious clothes answered, not even bothering to look at the Wizard.

"Would you mind answering this question?" The Wizard cleared his throat.

"Let's say that you have a potential client – an Emerald City banker accused of fraud. An elderly woman took all of her life's savings and sent every last bit to this banker. He promised to invest it, but instead, spent it on drugs, booze, and women of questionable professions and backgrounds. Would you be willing to take his case?"

"No, I would _not_ take that case," Avaric sneered, rolling his eyes. He jumped in his seat however as the Wizard slammed a fist onto the table he was leaning against.

"Wrong!" The teacher hissed. "Unless you slacked off, this one could be won easily. An elderly woman like the plaintiff could be proven senile and insane just by calling her up to the stand to testify!."

Avaric flushed brightly, and the Wizard turned his sights away from the embarrassed man.

"It's just like I said; it's all about the blood in the water." He said in a sing-song voice, his returning pleasant voice and smile very unlike the ruthless man they had all just glimpsed.

"Kumbricia?" The Wizard asked, looking around the classroom for the person.

A woman clad in dark and durable clothing looked at the Wizard calmly. "Yes?"

"A hypothetical question for you," He said. "Would you be willing to represent the following client?"

"Let's say that you have been offered a very high price for defending a member of a group of people specializing in underworld deals and organized crime; a mafia of sorts. And say that your client specialized in assassination. However, instead of killing his chosen target, he ended up killing a sister of the Faith, and in his haste to get away, managed to murder various animals."

Kumbricia's eyes fell half closed and she smiled wryly. The look she was giving the Wizard was one of superiority.

"Of course I would defend him." She chuckled, her tone and even laughter having a condescending air. "Just because he's a typical idiotic male does not mean that I wouldn't take the case."

She chuckled again, and the Wizard laughed alongside her for a few moments before:

"Women of _your_ nature all think you're so tough."

The Wizard's eyes glinted coldly as Kumbricia lost her composure, her dark eyes widening.

"But... but I- I don't-"She started to splutter.

"Oh dear, it looks like I might have offended poor Kumbricia here!" The Wizard gasped his concern quite obviously false.

"But it's hard to argue, isn't it?" He asked, dropping his act. "When you let your emotions get the best of you?"

The less friendly side of the Wizard was back as he surveyed his class critically.

"If your emotions overtake you in court," He stated, "If they make you weak in front of the prosecution, your employment will be ended so quickly that you won't even have enough time to raise your first objection."

As others scribbled down the Wizard's sagely quotes of advice, Galinda just sat there and smiled. She had no paper, nor anything to write with on her at the moment; not that she would have written anything down even if she did have the materials, anyways.

"Remember these words, children." The Wizard drawled, "The traits I have just told you about are what I respect and admire in a lawyer."

"My point is, I run a law firm; a highly distinguished and highly respected one too. Every year, I hire four new people to come and work alongside me as interns. So, from this very class, I will choose four of you and _only_ four, who show these traits best and impress me the most. The four whom I hire will have a one-hundred percent guaranteed career."

"Do you follow me?" As the majority of the class nodded yes, the Wizard reverted to his nicer persona, and grinned.

"So, _what_ do I want to see?"

"Blood in the water." They all croaked out.

"Wonderful. I'm glad that you understand." He kept on grinning, but somewhere along the line it had turned a tad more malicious than pleasant.

The Wizard stood back and watched his class whisper to each other about his offer. It was tempting, and most likely each student would compete for one of those highly coveted spots. However, with competition came rivalry, and even hatred. Even now, he noticed some students glancing at those who they assumed would give them the most trouble with a wary and distrustful eye.

Yet that wasn't the only thing he saw.

Amidst the buzz and chattering of the students, he saw a small pale hand fly up into the air, the pink glitter applied to the nails of said hand catching his eye.

"Yes, Miss..."

"Upland, sir." Galinda finished for him, before he could even glance down at his list. "Galinda Upland."

The Wizard's eyebrows drew upwards at her cheery tone.

"Well," He commented, "Someone's chipper today."

"Would you summarize the reading I assigned for class?"

"Oh, I wanted to answer the earlier question, sir. About the animals?" Galinda smiled unabashedly. She didn't notice that the room had quieted somewhat as more people took notice of the conversation between the Wizard and Galinda.

Seamlessly, the Wizard's attitude changed again.

"But I'm asking you about the _reading_, Miss Upland." His voice took on a steel edge.

"I'm sorry, sir," Galinda laughed, "but _who_ assigns a reading for the first day of class?"

There was a pause, and the room grew deathly silent. No one spoke, for now every person's attention was on the woman who dared to speak to the professor, the famed 'wonderful Wizard' in such a manner.

"You have nerve, Miss Upland." Was all the Wizard said. There was no explosive outburst, no demand for an apology, just the simple statement, said with no emotion. Yet somehow, that was even more frightening than any shout could ever have been.

Calmly, the Wizard glanced down at his list once again.

"Sarima?"

Galinda did not see her, but she presumed that this 'Sarima' raised her hand.

"Let's say that you teach at law school, Sarima. Not just any law school, but Shiz; the most honoured, most prestigious law school in all of Oz."

"And let us say," Irritation began to creep into his voice at this point, "That a girl who you call upon not only has not done her work, but _ridicules_ you for assigning work on the first day of classes. What would you do to this student? Would you let the incident go?"

"No. I would throw her out."

Those words made Galinda's smile drop right off her face. Her blood froze in her veins, and she whipped around to look at the woman who had just spoken.

She was slightly darker than Galinda. Perhaps it was just the lack of the sun, or maybe it was hereditary, but she had a look of paleness about her- not milk-white flesh, but a tan that had faded due to lack of exposure to sunlight. She sat next to Fiyero, and she wore a modest but pretty (_'though nowhere near as elegant or intricate as mine'_, Galinda thought) dress.

She had a pretty face _('but not as pretty as mine'_ Galinda thought once more) but it was currently set into a hard, stern gaze, directly aimed at Galinda.

"Alright then." The Wizard broke the blonde out of her thoughts

"You heard Sarima." He said with a poorly disguised triumphant look in his eye.

"Grab your coat and bag, Galinda, and leave."

Face nearly burning with shame, Galinda did so as fast as she could. As she strode across the room and to the doors, the Wizard held it open for her. As she walked past him, he muttered something for her, and only her to hear.

When the door shut closed behind her, the slam rang in her ears, as well as the Wizard's last words.

" I don't care if you return or not, but if you do, be ready to _learn."_


	5. Good Enough

**Good Enough**

Disclaimer – I do not own any of the places mentioned in this story, nor do I own any characters. Except maybe the carriage guy.

* * *

"Upland, is it? Galinda Upland?"

Galinda's eyes rose from the ground as she heard the somewhat familiar voice call her name. Looking up, she saw that it was the Wizard's assistant; the sarcastic woman from before with the green skin.

"From the upper uplands." Galinda laughed, her laughter sounding forced in her own ears. '_Elphaba'_ she reminded herself as she stood up from the bench she was sitting on. '_Her name is Elphaba.'_

"I wanted to give you your dog back." Elphaba said. Carefully, she handed the white dog back to Galinda, who smiled in appreciation. She thanked Elphaba and began to coddle Maddie.

After watching Galinda interact with the pup for a moment, Elphaba paused in her observation, something clicking in her mind.

"...Why aren't you in class?" She asked curiously.

"Oh. That."

The hand that had been petting Maddie stopped, mid-stroke, as she remembered why she was outside of class anyways. She sighed heavily.

"I was sort of... kicked out of class." She told Elphaba, not meeting the green girl's eyes.

There was an awkward kind of silence between them, until Elphaba shifted uncomfortably and cleared her throat.

"Well... don't... don't worry." She said, obviously not used to comforting people. "Just because you were kicked out of class once does not mean that your law and academic careers are over."

"Please," Galinda snorted, "I just need to figure out a way to get back into class... with Fiyero." Elphaba's gaze changed from one of awkward sympathy to confusion, but she had no time to inquire about that particular sentence as Galinda peered up at her hopefully and spoke before she had another chance to.

"Is there any way you can help me get back in?" She asked.

The only thing Elphaba could do was match her with a rueful look.

"All you can really do is be prepared for class." She shrugged.

Although Galinda's heart sank, she smiled and thanked Elphaba nonetheless. They would have chatted more, but at that moment the bell ran, signalling the end of classes. Students came flooding out of their classrooms, and when the doors to the Wizard's room burst open, Galinda strained to see Fiyero somewhere in the exiting crowd. She didn't see Fiyero anywhere, but she _did_ manage to see someone who she wanted to speak to even more than her previous boyfriend.

"Excuse me!" Galinda called out; walking up to the woman she had spotted, tapping her on the shoulder.

When the woman turned around, Galinda found herself face to face with the pale and stern Sarima.

"Why would you do that to me?" Galinda asked her, searching Sarima's eyes for some sort of answer.

"Do what?" Sarima asked, quite bluntly. Galinda was shocked to see that Sarima was eyeing her with utter disdain. No one had _ever_ looked at her like that before.

"_That_." Galinda stressed. "Earlier, in class; why did you tell the professor to kick me out?"

Sarima chuckled slightly and Galinda was (once again) surprised to hear something in her voice; something that sounded suspiciously like arrogance.

"It isn't _my_ fault that you were thrown out." She responded, her eyes half-lidded as she gazed at Galinda. "You just weren't prepared for class."

As Galinda stared, wide eyes and slack-jawed at Sarima, and Sarima stared back with a small smirk on her face, Elphaba (who had been watching from the sidelines) coughed suddenly, reminding both women that she was still there.

"I think I'll be going now." She said quickly, turning on her heel and rushing into the Wizard's classroom. While Elphaba wasn't one to back down or become frightened easily, she could tell that any upcoming fight between Galinda and Sarima would not be a pretty sight to see.

"If you don't want to get kicked out next time," Sarima drawled, "I would suggest studying. Unfortunately for you, learning tens to give you a headache, doesn't it?"

_That_ comment struck Galinda deep, making the blonde woman begin to fume.

"I- I- you-!"

Before she could splutter out an appropriate and equally cutting remark, someone stepped out of the class.

"Galinda!"

Her mouth shut and she straightened up immediately as the person called out her name. She would know that voice anywhere.

Sure enough, Fiyero came up to her a second later. Seeing the concerned look on the man's face made Galinda's heart flutter to know that he still cared about her.

"Galinda, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Fiyero." She replied. Resisting the urge to add 'now that you're hear' to her sentence, she instead let a small grateful smile grace her mouth.

"Listen, Galinda..." Fiyero began. "I'm sorry—"

"For what?" Galinda asked her voice somewhat breathless as she continued to speak to her ex-boyfriend.

"Fiyero?"

Sarima's voice broke Galinda out of her little world, making her remember that people other than the Vinkus man and herself existed. As Fiyero looked at Sarima over Galinda's head, the blonde's brow furrowed.

'_How does she know his name?'_ She wondered.

'Isn't there something Galinda should know?" She asked him, her voice expectant.

"You know her?" Galinda was shocked. She reached a hand out and touched Fiyero's shoulder, but Fiyero looked at her with a guilty expression and shrugged the blonde's hand off of himself.

"Galinda..." He sighed, still not meeting her eyes. "You see..."

He sighed heavily once more.

"Sarima and I... well, we met a couple of months ago and now..."

He walked over to Sarima. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Galinda saw Fiyero reach an arm over Sarima's shoulders and smile sheepishly.

"She's my girlfriend now."

"...I'm sorry." Galinda smiled sweetly after a moment's silence. "I... I think I just had some sort of sudden hallucination. Could you repeat that again?"

Fiyero winced and opened his mouth to repeat his words, but Sarima beat him to it as she grinned (evilly, in Galinda's opinion) and said slowly and clearly-

"I'm his girlfriend."

"Oh my Oz..." Galinda whispered, Sarima's words finally sinking in. Suddenly, she felt nauseous, and grew very dizzy.

With her world spinning and her heart breaking, Galinda breathed out an "I have to go."

Stumbling through the new couple's linked bodies, she ran off as fast as her legs could take her. She ran until she was off of the school grounds, and when the first carriage came into sight, she hopped on.

When the driver asked her where to, Galinda blurted out the first thing on her mind.

"Anywhere but here."

The driver, a kind man who was able to recognize a breakdown when he saw one, simply nodded. With a soft click of his tongue and a gentle tug at the reins, the horse began to move at a steady trot. Galinda did not notice this, however – she couldn't have, for her face was buried in her hands, and her mind was filled with images of Fiyero and Sarima. All the while, Fiyero's words echoed in her ears over and over again.

"_She's my girlfriend now."_ His voice taunted.

'_She's my girlfriend now."_

* * *

Galinda did not know how long she had been riding in the carriage, for all the while she had been too busy reliving (in her head) the hellish situation she had been in. It seemed like only minutes had passed since she had taken the carriage ride, but however, the Gillikinese woman came back to her senses at the driver's gentle insistence of:

"Miss, we're here."

Galinda looked around to see where exactly 'here' was. Glancing upwards, she saw that they were at a small chain of stores – nothing like the fancy boutiques back in the uplands of Gillikin, but quaint enough. Right in front of where the driver had stopped, Galinda spotted a salon, relieving her (if only for a moment) of her stress.

She thanked the driver and then opened up her purse, asking him "How much do I owe you?"

"Not a thing, miss." The driver replied. Seeing Galinda's startled face, he grinned.

"I can see that you're troubled." He told her. "Often, my own wife comes here when I've done something to upset her or life is getting her down. _She _shouldn't be depressed and neither should a young girl like you. So let's have my payment be seeing a smile on that pretty face of yours, yeah?"

Galinda blinked, but as the man tipped his hat to her, she felt the effect of his kind words (so unlike the harsh ones Sarima and Fiyero had given her earlier) sink in and a slow smile spread across her face as her heart melted.

"Alright." She smiled.

The man smiled back.

"Take care now, miss." He said, tipping his hat once more, and as the carriage rolled out of sight, Galinda turned around.

The sign above the salon stated in big, bold letters **'The Wash & Brush Up co.'**

Glancing at it one more time before she entered, Galinda finally went in.

Inside, several different women were styling, cutting and washing people's hair. A few other people were receiving massages and one person was having what looked like their eyes dyed to match the colour of their gown.

"May I help you?" The woman running the receptionist counter asked as she saw Galinda walk in.

"... Nails." Galinda told her a moment later. "I need someone for nails."

Glancing at what was going on behind her, the receptionist said,

"We're currently full at the moment, miss... except for one woman."

"She can be the one to do it." Galinda replied immediately.

"I should tell you though," the woman warned Galinda quietly, "She... well... she has some... problems."

"So do I right now." Galinda shook the image of the new couple out of her mind. "I'll take her."

The receptionist shrugged, mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like 'your loss' before calling on the only woman open.

"Nessarose!"

A woman looked up immediately, and motioned for Galinda to come over. As Galinda approached, she looked over the woman who would be doing her nails.

She was seated behind a counter, all of her supplied organized neatly in front of her, all of them available and ready for usage. Her hands were folded in her lap, and she smiled politely at Galinda. Her hair, held back by a pink wool headband, shone a dark nearly black brown. Her smile and pretty face held Galinda's attention momentarily, but not forever, and the socialite's eyes drifted down to her clothes. Though elegant and nice enough, they were of somewhat low quality, Galinda could tell just from a glance alone. In all honesty, Nessarose reminded Galinda of someone, but she couldn't really remember who.

Running through a mental list of who this woman could remind her of, Galinda was interrupted as Nessarose spoke.

"What can I do for you today?" She asked.

"Nails, please." Galinda tried to smile but all she managed to do was really upturn her lips feebly.

Nessarose motioned for Galinda to take a seat, and began to do her nails soon after.

"You look sad." The brunette noticed. "What's wrong?"

"I just had the worst day of my life." Galinda groaned. Normally, the blonde would never speak to a stranger, but she really needed a confidant.

"You can tell me all about it." The salon worker suggested.

"Alright then," Galinda sighed, relieved for someone to talk to. "I'm Galinda, by the way; Galinda Upland of the Upper Uplands. I came here all the way from Gillikin to attend Shiz."

"I know someone who went to Shiz..." Nessarose commented idly, her eyes taking on a reminiscent quality. Returning to where she was after a moment, she told Galinda to continue.

"Well..."

As Nessarose worked on Galinda's nails, Galinda went on to tell her more about her life and current situation. She told her about how Fiyero had broken up with her and how she had studied and the amount of trouble she went through to get into Shiz. She ranted about how the Wizard kicked her out of class, and how learning of Fiyero and Sarima had topped it all off."

"...do you believe it?" Galinda moaned tearfully.

Nessarose nodded sympathetically. "It's terrible. I can't imagine- darn it!"

She accidentally knocked a bottle over. Its contents (thankfully) didn't spill out over the table, but the bottle itself fell to the floor and rolled underneath Galinda's chair.

Nessarose sighed.

"Could you get that?"

"No problem." Galinda said, grateful to the woman for listening. Leaning over to one side in her chair to reach it, she paused as she spied something behind the work table.

Nessarose's feet weren't touching the floor. While that wasn't too much of a surprise, it was seeing the stand that they were rested upon that stunned the blonde woman. What gave Galinda the biggest shock of all however was that on either side of Nessarose's chair and feet were two wheels.

Nessarose was in a wheelchair.

Sitting back up with the bottle clutched firmly in hand, Galinda rose and saw Nessarose's face set in an emotionless, hard gaze, so unlike the politely sympathetic expression that had been there before.

"You saw, didn't you?"

Galinda found herself nodding, and Nessarose said nothing. She just gathered Galinda's hands and continued on with her work, more focused than before, seemingly trying to make her work as fast and tidy as possible.

"...So what's your story?"

Nessarose's eyes snapped up.

"What?"

"You listened to me about my troubles and my life." Galinda smiled sheepishly. "I only see it fair to do the same for you."

Nessarose stared at her for a moment, before a small, bemused but happy smile tugged at her lips.

"I'm an employee here." The brunette said, carefully spreading on another layer of polish to Galinda's nails. "It doesn't pay much, but I need the money, and majority of the workers here are nice enough to me. I was lucky enough to get the job; most people don't want to hire me because..."

She drifted off, and her eyes slid to her lap. Galinda knew immediately that she was talking about her handicap.

"But anyways, like I said before, the money is what I need. Before, my elder sister and I used to have free board and lodging, but something happened."

A shadow of a dark expression flickered on Nessarose's face momentarily before disappearing.

"We had to find a new place to live, and many of our possessions were taken. Even our pet; if you could call him that."

Pity and sadness coursed through Galinda's body. "That's terrible." She mourned.

"Very." Nessarose nodded bitterly. "And to think, I was supposed to attend Shiz next year. Now I have to work this job just to have shelter."

She sighed again and glanced downwards.

"Your nails are done." She said, releasing Galinda's hands. The blonde brought them to her face to inspect Nessarose's work.

"Is there anything else I can help you with?" Nessarose asked, sitting back in her chair. "Both with your business here and with that Fiyero you mentioned."

Galinda was about to say no, but she froze as a thought suddenly hatched in her mind at the sound of Fiyero's name.

"Actually..." Galinda smiled giddily. "There _is_ something you can do."

"What's that?"

"Make me a brunette." Galinda breathed, grabbing Nessarose's hands and clasping then in her own, her eyes sparkling with excitement about her idea.

'Galinda..." Nessarose began, "Normally, i wouldn't object to more work; the extra effort isn't something I enjoy, but at least it means more money for me. However, I'll have to say that I won't dye your hair for you."

"Why not?" Galinda asked her happiness fading.

"One reason." Nessarose held up a lone finger.

"I don't think changing your hair colour will help you impress this man."

"But Nessarose," Galinda explained patiently, "Fiyero likes Sarima. Maybe, if I looked like she does he would want me back."

"Well, what does she have that you don't?" Nessarose arched an eyebrow, reminding Galinda of someone once again. Shaking away the nostalgia, the social butterfly was about to reply when something over Nessarose's shoulder caught her eye.

"See for yourself." Galinda said, and the hairdresser wheeled herself around to see what Galinda was motioning at.

A moment later, Sarima walked into the salon, going over to the receptionist and speaking to her quietly, smiling.

Although Galinda felt like glaring at her with all her might and throwing a few choice words at the girl, Galinda kept her cool. Calmly, she got up out of her chair and went over to the receptionist.

'Hello Sarima." Galinda smiled falsely as she approached. "It's nice to see you."

"Hello Galinda." Sarima returned flatly, her smile disappearing as soon as she saw the pink clad blonde.

The receptionist, doubling as a cashier, nodded to Galinda and began to calculate the pricing for Galinda's nails. As the socialite waited to hand her the money she owed, Sarima turned back to the receptionist.

"Are you going to the party?"

"I am." The receptionist nodded.

'_Party?'_ Galinda thought to herself, perking up slightly. She hadn't been to a party since before she had started studying for Shiz.

Sarima, who had been eyeing the blonde discreetly noticed this and turned to Galinda.

"It's a Shiz mixer." She explained. "You should come; everyone will be there."

Galinda's eyes lit up at the thought of a party with her fellow Shiz students. Ever since she had come to the law school, she had had barely and interaction with people other than what was necessary. Too lost in her thoughts of meeting new students and people, Galinda missed the puzzled look from the receptionist to Sarima and the reassuring devious smirk that Sarima gave in return.

"It's next Friday at eight in the Ozdust ballroom." Sarima told her.

"Thank you for telling me." Galinda beamed at the taller woman. Perhaps she had misjudged Sarima- maybe she was a nice person after all, even if she had been the one to take Fiyero away from her.

"My pleasure." Sarima replied, her face not betraying a single emotion. "Remember, next Friday at eight in the Ozdust."

"Also, you should remember that it's a costume party."

With that, Sarima nodded goodbye to the receptionist (who had startled giggling madly for some strange reason) and left. Practically throwing her money at the receptionist, Galinda speeded back over to Nessarose who had watched the entire ordeal.

"Did you hear that?" Galinda cried.

"Every word." Nessarose nodded up at Galinda. "This might be your chance."

"I know!" Galinda replied. A confident gleam came to her eyes. A predatory and cocky smile worked its way across her pink lips as an idea formed in her head.

"This _is_ my chance, and I fully intend to use it." Galinda smirked

* * *

Galinda had spent days looking for the costume that would capture the Vinkus prince's attention. After combing through every store in the town that Shiz was located in, she finally found it in a discreet little town tucked away in the very heart of the city. On Friday evening, the date and time of the party, Galinda spent hours upon hours of time in perfecting her appearance. Hair was curled, make-up was applied, lotion was tenderly rubbed into skin, and finally, the costume was slid on.

Eight o clock had rolled around and Galinda made her way to the party, knowing for sure once she got inside that Fiyero would most definitely notice her- the doorman's wide eyed gaze, dropped jaw and slightly unfocused stare as he let her in had been Galinda's reassurance.

Now, standing in front of the inner doors of the Ozdust, Galinda was ready to wow the crowds and (more importantly) the one man she was doing all of this for.

"Fiyero, get ready to remember that we deserve each other." She mumbled, before pushing the double doors open and letting herself in.

The sudden rush of light blinded Galinda for a second before it faded away to reveal the setting of the room.

It was like the formal partied she used to attend with her parents while she was still living in Gillikin. The room was large, and classy yet danceable music was being played from a live band. A bar with drinks was open off of the dance floor (which covered the majority of the room), and tables and chairs littered the sides of the room, available to all of those waiting for a dance, tired from dancing themselves, or simply watching other people dance wistfully. It had all the makings of a high class social party, from the atmosphere to the quietly chattering men and women in their elegant three-piece suits and dresses-

**WAIT.**

Galinda's eyes scanned frantically around the room, and her heartbeat thudded in her ears, quicker and louder with each passing second. No one, absolutely _no one_ but her was wearing any sort of costume whatsoever.

A sick feeling settled in the pit of her stomach as Galinda saw that she had been duped.

Breathing raggedly, Galinda turned to the doors and tried to open them to make her escape, but found that they would not budge. It was too late to get out now, anyways- people had noticed her, and more and more heads started to turn to look and stare at the girl who came dressed as a Rabbit, wearing only a pink headband with ears and a matching merry widow corset with a tail attached to the behind, a pink bow wrapped around her neck.

While before she had been commending herself on her choice, now she was cursing her decision of choosing one of the more modest, yet still extremely revealing costumes. Galinda tried the doors again but it was of no avail, for they still would not budge.

Whispers grew louder behind her and Galinda knew that the amount of pointing fingers and shocked stares were growing as well. Galinda also knew that her face was burning red, flushed with embarrassment. It was quite the contrast to the rest of her body, for other than her face she felt icy both inside and out.

'_You __**idiot!'**_ her mind barked. '_You shouldn't have been so trusting! Sarima took Fiyero and now she's going to take your self-respect as well!'_

'_But it doesn't __**have**__ to be like that.' _She realized with a jolt. Sarima didn't _have_ to win; Galinda could still come out of the entire ordeal with her pride in her hands and make lemonade out of these lemons. She had done it before, and she could do it again.

Waiting until all the blood drained out of her face, Galinda turned back around, facing the many pairs of eyes focused on her. Ignoring them all, Galinda took a deep breath and adjusted the Rabbit ears on her headband until they were cocked at a jaunty angle. She started to strut around the room, letting the inner socialite inside take hold of her as she greeted people and made her rounds about the room.

It wasn't long until she had circled the Ozdust ballroom and pinpointed the location of the source of her humiliation. Sarima was sitting on a chair by the bar, sipping a drink and talking to a person who looked equally as boring and drab as she did.

Taking another deep breath, Galinda strode up to Sarima. The brunette glanced up at Galinda, who had planted herself firmly in front of her, and promptly spit out her drink as she caught sight of Galinda's outfit.

"Sarima, dear!" Galinda smiled. Her perfect false smile was twice as bright as it usually was, and when she spoke, the sweetness in her voice was laced with venom. "Thank you so much for the tip on this costume party."

Sarima began to shake and laugh uncontrollably, her friend joining in.

However, Sarima's friend was the only one of the two to keep on laughing as Galinda said-

"I see that you've come as last year's sample sale."

"Sarima!" A voice called out. Had Galinda been a real Rabbit, her ears would have perked up at the sound of the voice.

"Sarima, I've got you-"Fiyero promptly stopped, mid-sentence as he, too, caught sight of Galinda.

"...Wow." Was all he could say, the cup of water he held in his hand slipping to the floor.

"Hello there, stranger." Galinda greeted, shifting her weight so that she was leaning on one hip, a hand poised on the other hip as she 'accidentally' posed for him.

"Um..."

Fiyero's eyes slid over to Sarima, who was too busy arguing with the friend who _still_ had not stopped laughing to notice that he was talking to Galinda. Looking around the room, he grasped Galinda's hand and led her to another part of the room, still close enough for Sarima to see him.

"Galinda," He asked once they had stopped, "Why are you dressed like...?"

'Like what?" Galinda feigned innocence, as if she wore racy costumes on a daily basis

'Like _that!"_ he motioned to the pink costume, giving her a once over. "And why didn't you wear that while we were still together?"

"Well," Galinda drawled, smiling and shrugging, "I guess that you never asked."

"Which I now seriously regret." Fiyero muttered.

Galinda just giggled.

"You know, it's still kind of hard to believe that you're here at Shiz." He admitted a moment later. "In all honesty, I never would have guessed it back when we were still in Gillikin."

"Well, it's different here." Galinda replied, twirling a perfectly curled lock as she spoke. "Everything is different. Even at school; the workload sure has increased."

"I wonder how I'm going to balance it all when I get the internship." She laughed.

'_You're _going to try to get the internship?" The Winkie gawked at her.

"Well, of course!" Galinda was confused. "Why?"

Fiyero laughed, but stopped as he saw Galinda's already puzzled look become even more perplexed.

"You... You're _not_ joking." He said, the fact dawning upon him.

"Well, why would I be?" Galinda was starting to feel hurt.

"Galinda, you don't _seriously_ think you'll get it, do you?" Fiyero asked with an earnest look on his face as he took Galinda's hands into his own. "I mean, the internship is for top notch students, and I'm sorry but I don't think you're even serious about everything. I don't even think you're cut out for this school"

"Fiyero... I don't understand you."

It was Fiyero's turn to be confused as Galinda went on.

"I mean... I do understand what you just said. But I don't get _you_ or your thinking. How am I not cut out for Shiz? I got here exactly how you did- I took the same tests. I studied the same material. How can you say I can't get that internship? How can you say that I'm less serious than you and everyone else?"

"Galinda-"Fiyero searched for words, but found none.

And it hit Galinda, right then and there.

"I'll never be good enough for you." She said softly, gazing into Fiyero's eyes. "Will I?"

"Galinda wait, hold on-"

"Save it." Galinda mumbled. Dropping their linked hands, she turned her back on the man she once loved, and headed as fast as she could straight out of there; out of the now unlocked doors and out into the night.

The cold of the dusky air did not affect Galinda, for the hot tears on her face made her impervious.

* * *

Long chapter, wasn't it? Anyways, thanks for reading. I just realized I don't interact nearly enough with you all outside of the reviews I get, so yeah.

Thanks again to my beta, geekgirl18. Also, I just want to let everyone know that the chapters will probably come a little slower after this, since school starts again soon.


	6. The Artichoke

**Steamed**

**This is part 1.  
**

Disclaimer – As usual, I do not own Wicked or Legally Blonde, nor do I own any characters mentioned within this story.

* * *

Galinda must have ran for half an hour straight when she had left that party, leaving behind the jeers and leers and, worst of all, the laughter.

Even when her legs started to burn (the heels she had worn were making it even more difficult to run) she kept on running, and she did not stop until she stumbled, finally settling down on a park bench where she promptly burst into tears.

She had been so stupid! Did she actually think that this could have worked? She had dodged a bullet by avoiding having her pride destroyed by Sarima, but she had been shot straight in the heart when it had been Fiyero who told her that she did not belong at Shiz.

This was all wrong. _Everything_ was all wrong. People weren't supposed to laugh at her. People weren't supposed to tell her she didn't deserve to be at Shiz.

Fiyero wasn't supposed to shatter her heart and self respect and throw it back in her face.

"...Galinda?"

With a sense of déjà-vu, Galinda raised her head to look at whoever was addressing her. Though her eyes were filled with tears that blurred her vision, the green smear she could see above her gave an idea to who the mystery person was. Blinking, the tears rolled down Galinda's cheeks in two familiar paths. At any other time, the blonde would have been ashamed to be caught crying, but at least her suspicions had been confirmed-the person who said her name _had_ been Elphaba.

"What are you doing out here? The green woman asked, brow furrowed in confusion- a new look on Elphaba, since in the weeks Galinda had known her, she had never once looked confused in any way, shape or form.

"And why are you wearing..."

She gave Galinda an incredulous once over.

"-that?" She finished lamely, motioning to the skimpy pink costume.

"I'm here because I'm in love." Galinda sniffled.

"…What?"

"I'm here because I love Fiyero!" Galinda sobbed, Elphaba looking quite alarmed as a fresh round of tears welled up in Galinda's eyes.

"I came to Shiz, hoping I could win him back. But instead," She whimpered pathetically, "Instead I'm made the laughingstock of the school! Everybody think's im just a blonde joke, and no one, not even _Fiyero_, who I came to do all of this for, will believe in me! It's terrible! It's wrong, it's all completely wrong, and I wish I could just-"

"Wait a clock tick." Elphaba interjected suddenly; her eyes, full of confusion, set suddenly as an odd look filing them instead. "What did you just say?"

"It's all wrong?" Galinda repeated, staring up questioningly at the green woman.

"No." Elphaba shook her head slowly. "Before that. Before _everything."_

"I'm here because I love Fiyero?"

As Galinda said these words again, Elphaba stood still, staring at the costume clad woman.

"Now, when I say this, you have to understand that I am saying this in the politest of ways."

The verdant woman took a deep breath.

"ARE YOU INSANE!?"

Galinda nearly jumped back at the outburst, clearly not expecting it. Looking into Elphaba's eyes, she saw, quite clearly, burning anger.

"You're telling me you came here from-"

"Gillikin."

"-Gillikin, just to follow a _man?"_ Elphaba continued, partially upset and partially baffled.

"You came to Shiz not to study, but to get your boyfriend back?"

"That's basically it?"

Galinda winced as Elphaba became positively livid at the answer.

"What kind of a reason is _that!?"_Elphaba nearly spat. "Coming to a school like Shiz, just so you can follow your former boyfriend? That's not romantic or practical at all."

"I hear what people say about you Galinda, and I didn't believe it. But now that I know the truth, I have to say that-"

"So why did you come here, if my reason isn't good enough for you?" Galinda said loudly, stopping Elphaba mid-sentence; part of Galinda ended her words due to curiosity, but the majority of the reason was that Galinda did not think she could handle it if another person told her she didn't belong at Shiz.

Elphaba, although still furious, paused in her rant. Giving Galinda an unreadable look, she took a deep breath.

"Alright then." Elphaba said in a clipped tone. Her voice, thankfully, dropped in both volume and anger.

Quickly, the green woman took a seat beside Galinda, turning to face her almost immediately.

"As a child, I grew up in Munchkinland. My father was a priest, my mother, the governess-to-be of Munchkinland; my great-grandfather, the current governor, is still alive, so he still rules over the people."

"My parents were never sure why I was born with green skin." Elphaba continued on, raising an arm and regarding the green flesh as she spoke. "But they didn't seem to care."

Hearing the soft, girlish 'awww' from Galinda, Elphaba quickly added in, "When I say they didn't care, I don't mean they loved me regardless- once I reached the age where I wouldn't have to be fed and minded at all hours of the day, they rarely gave me any thought."

"They saw that my education was fulfilled- I was taught reading, writing, and thinking, and a variety of different subjects. That was all that really mattered to me- books and literature were my friends, for I had none. My father didn't notice, nor do I think he particularly cared- he was too busy taking care of my younger sister (who has a handicap of her own) while my mother... never woke up after birth."

"Eventually, I came to the age where I wanted to go to a higher form of learning- more specifically, I wanted to go to Shiz. It looked for a while as though I wouldn't go- it was only my father and me who tended to my sister's needs; he's getting on in his years, and if I were to leave then taking care of my sister would be too much of a strain on him."

"Surprisingly though, he allowed me to go to Shiz but only on two conditions- one being that I would pay myself through Shiz, and the second one being that I bring my sister with me so that she could start her college education as well a few years after I graduated. I worked as many jobs as I could to get myself through Shiz, as well as support both myself and my sister."

"So forgive me, Miss Galinda upland of the Upper Uplands," Elphaba said icily, "For not being so sympathetic to your plight."

Galinda sat back, offended.

"Well excuse _me_." She snapped, glaring at Elphaba. "Excuse me for not being bitter about the world around me unlike you! I don't mean to mean offense, Miss Elphaba, but it seems that you're so angry that you're like..." Galinda struggled to think of something.

"An artichoke!" She said at last. "You're like an artichoke that has been-"

"Steamed?" Elphaba supplied, a sardonic grin forming on her face at Galinda's shocked expression.

"Maybe _you_ should start being a steamed artichoke to the world around you as well." Elphaba said dryly. Her voice had completely lost all anger now, and instead, she gazed at Galinda with a wry sort of amusement. "It would certainly help your determination and work ethic."

Getting up off the bench, Elphaba moved to leave. Before she did however, she caught sight of Galinda's ridiculous costume once more, and, in a rare moment of pity toward others, removed her jacket and handed it to the shivering blonde.

Galinda took it gratefully and wrapped it around her cold body, sighing at the warmth it provided her with.

"I want that back." Elphaba told her, before finally turning to leave.

As she was walking away, Galinda heard Elphaba's story ringing in her ears. Feeling one of the worn patches in Elphaba's old jacket, Galinda couldn't help but call out to the green woman.

"Wait!"

Elphaba paused, turning back to gaze at the blonde. Galinda glanced down at the blue jacket once more.

'Is it true?" Galinda asked in a quiet hesitant voice. "You... you _really_ managed to do what you said you did?"

"I haven't slept in years." Elphaba replied.

"How did you manage to do it?"

'Simple." Elphaba said as she walked closer to Galinda. "I didn't party; I didn't go to dances or do any of that. Instead of spending my time on foolishness, I studied as much as I could and worked whenever I could."

"I couldn't afford any fun. I _still_ can't afford to have fun. But, in the end, it's all worth it."

A passionate fire lit up in Elphaba's eyes.

'Because I'll work alongside the Wizard, and soon, it'll be the Wizard and I, and I will finally earn people's respect."

"And you won't be steamed like an artichoke anymore." Galinda teased, enlightened and encouraged by learning of Elphaba's dream.

"I'll still be an artichoke anyways," Elphaba shrugged.

* * *

"I'll just be a minute." Galinda told Elphaba.

Elphaba had walked with Galinda to her dorm room, just to be careful. It _was_ night after all, and even if Galinda lived in the safest part of Oz, it still would not be a good idea to go walking alone at night, all by herself while wearing what Galinda's was wearing no less.

"Make yourself at home." Galinda smiled. With that, she rushed into the washroom to change out of her outfit, leaving Elphaba behind, sitting on Galinda's bed.

Everything in the room was pink, as Elphaba was painfully aware of. What was not pink was some equally bright colour that managed to hurt her eyes just by looking at it. Elphaba couldn't remember a time in her life when she had been inside a room that was as... colourful as this one.

In fact, the only thing that wasn't pink or fluorescent yellow, blue, and orange (and whatever other colours that Elphaba didn't know the name of) was the little dog in the corner, how was bounding toward Elphaba excitedly.

"Oof!" The green woman grunted as Maddie bowled her over. Although she was tiny, Maddie was surprisingly strong.

"What happened?" Galinda asked, hearing Elphaba through the door.

"Your dog just jumped on me." Elphaba called back flatly.

"Don't worry about Maddie." Galinda giggled, "She's just very energetic. She jumps on me all the time."

"I could tell." Elphaba smirked at the hyperactive dog. "She must be good for keeping you awake when you're up late at night studying."

There was a pregnant pause.

"You _do _study... don't you?"

Silence.

"GALINDA!"

"I'm trying to!" the blonde cried.

"Not very hard, it seems." Elphaba snorted, putting Maddie back on the floor before she stood up and scanned the room sharply with her eyes.

"...Where are your law books?"

Galinda (fully changed by now) shuffled out of the bathroom.

"I know that they're here... somewhere." She mumbled, flushing.

Elphaba sighed heavily. "Galinda, at this rate, you might have to leave Shiz."

Galinda's heart sank.

"Unless you make some changes, that is."

Before Galinda knew it, the green woman was halfway across the room, standing at the desk that Galinda had converted into a vanity. Quickly and powerfully, Elphaba began to knock many of Galinda's possessions into the wastebasket that sat on the floor beside the desk.

"What are you _doing!?"_ Galinda shrieked, watching as more and more of her bottles were swept into the trash bin.

"If you want to survive here at Shiz," Elphaba answered, not even looking up from her work, "You're going to have to clear all of this out and make room for your books instead."

Ignoring Galinda's whimpers of protest, Elphaba continued to clean off the vanity top.

"This won't help you in law school," She said airily, plucking an expensive looking bottle of perfume off of the tabletop and throwing it away without a care.

"And neither will this-"

Another bottle tossed in.

"Or this."

Her lotion was put into the garbage.

"Or this...whatever this is."

Yet another one of Galinda's beauty products was lost to the clutches of the ruthless (in Galinda's opinion anyways) green girl.

"Couldn't you leave me on?" The blonde begged, a pout forming on her lips. "Just... just one?"

"Not until you spend some time improving what's inside your head." Elphaba replied. Her voice, so calm and casual, even while she was destroying Galinda's collection of accessories, frustrated the usually perky woman to no end. For the first time in her life, an angry growl was ripped from Galinda's throat.

"Are you angry?" Elphaba asked, pausing to look at Galinda. Seeing the heated glare on the woman's face, it made Elphaba (much to Galinda's displeasure) smirk.

"Good." Elphaba nodded. "Get angry. You can get as angry at me as you like, but it won't make any difference unless you channel your anger into something worthwhile- studying, maybe?"

Defeated, Galinda groaned. Though she didn't want to admit it, the elder woman was right- at Shiz, it was either sink or swim, and if Galinda wanted to swim then she needed to take Elphaba's advice. So, while Elphaba continued on in her quest to destroy Galinda's collection of beautifying products, the woman began to search the room.

Moving over shelves and looking inside drawers, Galinda finally beamed as she spotted what she was looking for behind Maddie's bed.

"Found it!" Galinda cheered. Elphaba looked up to see the law book clutched tightly in the beaming blonde's hand.

Moving away from the desk, Elphaba marched over to Galinda, tugged the book out of her hand, unwrapped the bindings keeping it shut and handed it back to the shorter girl.

"You've been reading it hard, I can tell." Elphaba quipped, and another blush rose to Galinda's cheeks.

* * *

Months had passed since that fateful night in the park, and since then, Galinda had been studying as hard as she could.

...With prompting and assistance from Elphaba, of course.

Sitting at Galinda's re-converted desk with a textbook balanced on her knee, Elphaba gazed at Galinda expectantly.

"Define Malum Prohibitum." Elphaba commanded, watching as Galinda combed out her curls carefully, and then watching as they sprung back into place while Galinda chewed on her lip.

"Malum Prohibitum..." Galinda squeezed her eyes shut, screwing up her face in concentration.

"Malum Prohibitum is..." She hesitated, and Elphaba began to drone.

"An act-"

"An act prohibited by law!" Galinda interrupted, eyes sparkling as the words came rushing back to her. "Malum Prohibitum is an act prohibited by law!"

Elphaba nodded. "So there for, Malum In Se is-?"

"Malun in Se is an action that is evil within itself." Galinda recited. "like murder, assault, and eating Animals."

A brief flicker of something Galinda couldn't quite name appeared in Elphaba's eyes at the last suggestion, but it disappeared quickly as she nodded once more.

"good." She commended. "Now, can you tell me what-"

Before her question could be completed, a loud thud disturbed them. Galinda, sitting closer to the door, took the liberty of going to see what was going on.

Poking her head out of the door and into the hallway, Galinda looked out to see (and her heart fluttered) Fiyero. The man was crouching to pick up what looked like a dropped bag on the ground, and once he picked it up, he continued on his way.

Galinda couldn't help herself.

"Bye, Fiyero!" She called out. Turning around, Fiyero saw her waving. He smiled back and waved himself for a moment, before heading down the hall and out of sight.

"Enjoy your holiday!" She yelled out after him, adding in after a moment, underneath her breath, "Without me..."

"Galinda?"

Galinda snapped out of her daze as Elphaba said her name.

"Sorry, Elphaba." She smiled apologetically. "I was just...distracted."

Cocking an eyebrow, Elphaba said nothing. Instead, she glanced down at the textbook once more. Raising her head, she was about to ask Galinda to define yet another legal term, but her voice died in her throat as she saw Galinda hurriedly stuffing clothing and whatnot into a suitcase that seemed to materialise out of nowhere.

"What are you doing?" The green woman asked flatly.

"Packing." Galinda replied, picking up her purse and a few dog treats for Maddie into it before calling said dog and picking her up. "Seeing Fiyero reminded me that I'm leaving soon."

"To go where?"

"Home, of course." Galinda said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "If you remember, we can go home for the break." She wrapped a pink scarf around her neck and wrapped a miniature version of the same scarf around Maddie.

"That's interesting." Elphaba said vaguely. Quickly and firmly, she pulled the book resting on her knee off of herself, laid it down on the desk and slammed it shut. Galinda, with one arm halfway through the sleeve of her magenta jacket, paused.

"What is it?"

"Oh, nothing." Elphaba said, examining her naturally spring green nails calmly. "i was just thinking about how you're going to pass the class-"

"YES!" Galinda raised a triumphant fist in the air.

"-In the bottom percentage with the slackers and underachievers."

"WHAT!?" Galinda cried, nearly dropping Maddie.

"Then again, that's just _fine."_ Elphaba drawled. "You can go home if you want that."

"Elphaba!" Galinda whined, flopping down on her bed. "That's not fair!"

"Of _course_ it's not fair." Elphaba said firmly, turning in her chair to face Galinda. The passionate fire had lit up again in her eyes.

"It's not fair at all, but you know what? You should get used to it. I can say that you have improved a lot, but if you _really_ want that internship with the Wizard it's going to take a lot more effort than what you have already put out."

"So what do you suggest I do?" Galinda asked miserably, realizing Elphaba was right.

"Stay here." Was Elphaba's answer. "Your vacation can wait until you're more stable with your grades."

Glinda groaned and began to unpack. Unwrapping the scarf from her neck and tugging off her travelling coat, Glinda removed the dog biscuits from her purse and tossed one at Maddie, and then one at Elphaba, who merely chuckled and ducked the treat as Galinda huffed at her, "Why do you always have to be right?"

-


	7. Is Steamed

**Steamed part 2**

Yeah, it ended up being too long, so I split it in half. I hope you all enjoy! Also, I'd like to thank my beta, geekgirl18 once more. Thanks for putting up with me and my neurotic self.

Disclaimer – I do not own Glinda, Elphaba, or anyone else in this chapter. I do not own Wicked. I also do not own Maddie. She belongs to Kristin Chenoweth.

* * *

A number of weeks passed and soon, all the Shiz students were given another break. This time, however, the vacation was going to be longer than the last one. Many students were collecting their belongings and getting ready to go home for the holidays. Galinda Upland however, was not one of them; when Elphaba had told her to stay behind and focus on her grades, Galinda had taken the words to heart and just like before, hung back, deciding to stay at Shiz to study.

Which was why she was currently pacing around her room, biting on her lip in concentration as she recited all of the facts of a certain case to Nessarose, who was sitting in her wheelchair with Maddie in her lap.

"...Correct." The brunette answered, glancing at the cards containing the answers that she had laid out on the arm of her chair, a textbook on the opposite arm.

"Good job!" Nessarose smiled, and Galinda squealed, clapping her hands excitedly before leaning over Maddie and giving a surprised but not reluctant Nessarose a tight hug of thanks.

The door to Galinda's room opened suddenly, and Galinda turned to look at whoever had come inside. There, in all her shabby finery, stood Elphaba with her hands behind her back, a blue knit cap pulled over her hair as protection from the snow.

"I'm sorry I'm late." Elphaba apologized. She pulled off her beanie, delicately shaking the quickly melting snowflakes off of it with one hand. "I had to stop to purchase something before coming here."

"Oh, it's fine." Galinda bubbled. She leaned back from her hug.

"Say!" She said brightly. "You two haven't met yet, have you?"

"Nessarose, this is-"

"_Elphaba?"_ Nessarose gasped, finally catching sight of the green woman. Blinking, Galinda turned to look at Elphaba. The green woman was looking sincerely shocked; her beanie was dangling on the tips of her fingers, the woman's clutch upon the hat loosened greatly due to the surprise. Elphaba didn't even notice as Maddie jumped off of Nessarose's lap and pawed at her leg frantically.

"N-Nessa?" Elphaba stammered. "What... what are _you_ doing here?"

"Shouldn't I be asking _you_ that?" Nessa replied, looking equally as shocked.

"You two... know each other?" Galinda asked, her gaze traveling back and forth between the two women.

"Know her?" Elphaba echoed, turning to Galinda.

"Galinda," She said, returning back to her normal self, "Nessarose is my younger _sister."_

Galinda blinked once again.

"...Sister?"

"Yes." Someone, Nessa this time, affirmed, turning herself to look at the stunned blonde. "Elphaba is my sister."

As Elphaba walked across the room to stand next to Nessa's chair, Galinda couldn't help but peer carefully at the both of them.

"Now that I think about it..." Galinda said slowly, "I can see a family resemblance."

Both women scowled at that statement, and Galinda could most definitely see the resemblance then. They had the same bone structure- strong and well defined cheekbones, though still soft enough to be clearly feminine, similar noses, and (if Nessarose could stand up) the same tall and gracefully awkward build. They had the same eyes as well, though Elphaba's were somewhat a somewhat lighter brown than Nessarose's. For their hair, however, it was the opposite- Nessa's was a light brown, while Elphaba's was nearly pure black silk.

Glancing at the clock hanging on Galinda's pink wall, Nessa exhaled deeply and shifted in her chair.

"I have to go." She sighed. Seeing the confused looks on both Elphaba and Galinda's faces, she explained to them "Due to the holidays, the hours at the salon have changed. My work shift is starting soon."

"I'll walk you there." Elphaba offered immediately. Reaching for the top posts of Nessa's chair, she paused, fingertips barely touching the wood when Nessa shook her head.

"I will be _fine_, Elphaba." She insisted. "Really. I don't need an escort, I'm old enough to be able to see myself to there and then back home. Honestly, you treat me like I'm still a child..."

Nessarose trailed off, looking tired and frustrated. Sighing once more, she turned to Galinda.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help you study more." She said to the student as she placed the cards and the textbook on Galinda's desk on her way to the door.

"It's alright." Galinda chirped, walking her disabled friend to the door, picking up the textbook on her way.

"Besides," She smiled brilliantly, "Elphie can help me study!"

The book was held loosely in Galinda's hands, and she gave a little gasp as it slipped from her grasp and fell with a soft thud to the floor. As she bent over to pick it up, she did not see the silent exchange behind her back as Nessarose raised an eyebrow and shot a glance at Elphaba.

'_Elphie?'_ She mouthed, and Elphaba couldn't do more than shrug.

"Goodbye, Galinda." Nessa nodded to the blonde once more. She straightened up, and wheeled herself out of the room, but before she left completely she stopped in the doorframe.

"Oh, and Elphaba?" She called, not bothering to turn around. "I'll see you at home."

With that, Nessarose was gone, the door closing shut behind her.

As soon as the younger Thropp sister left, Elphaba turned to look at Galinda, raising an eyebrow of her own.

"_Elphie?"_ She asked, giving Galinda a pointed stare.

"Is it alright if I call you Elphie?" Galinda questioned, gazing innocently at the green girl.

"Well, it's a little..." Elphaba made a face as she searched for the right word to describe her feelings about the nickname newly bestowed upon her.

"Perky." She said finally, and Galinda laughed.

"You can be really strange sometimes, Elphie." She giggled, delighted when Elphaba (though she made another face) did not object to her new pet name.

"Anyways, what made you so late?"

"Oh..." Elphaba shifted uncomfortably, and Galinda noticed that her hands were still behind her back. Quickly, Elphaba strode across the floor and sat down on the bed, facing the blonde who was now standing in front of her.

"Well, like I said, I had to stop and buy something." Elphaba held out what she had been keeping behind her back. There, clutched in hands as green as grass was a brown paper bag, a tiny bow attached to the top.

"I know you're not going back to Gillikin for the holiday break," The verdant woman said as Galinda sat down beside her to look more closely at the package, "So I got you this."

"A present?" Galinda grinned. "For me?" Gently, she took the bag and opened it, pulling out a bottle with a bow that matched to one on the bag.

"It'll save you time." Elphaba told her as Galinda brought the bottle closer to her face for a more careful examination.

"It's shampoo and conditioner in one."

Galinda almost screamed, just barely managing to turn it into a gasp. She nearly flung the bottle out her window in horror; a two-in-one hair care product? She had never used one in her life, preferring to carefully lather her golden locks and _then_ add in the conditioner. Even worse, the little bottle had no name on it; Oz, the bottle wasn't even the vaguest shade of pink! Every inch of the bottle, from its cap to its base, was pure, unlabeled white. Galinda had never used two-in-one products before, but she hadn't even _touched_ a no-name brand for anything in her life. Galinda had grown up using the best of the best brands for everything, from her shampoo to her silverware. Elphaba's gift was like an economizing insult!

But then it hit Galinda.

This little bottle was _Elphaba's_ gift.

Elphaba, who had done so much already by encouraging her to do better in Shiz. Elphaba, who had devoted so much of her time tutoring and helping Galinda learn. Elphaba, who Galinda knew for a fact was struggling to make ends meet and provide a home and food for not only herself but Nessarose as well.

Elphaba, who was currently snapping emerald green fingers in Galinda's face in an attempt to awaken the girl from her stupor.

"...Elphie." She beamed, a new found sense of appreciation and gratitude for the gift in her hand suddenly blooming. "Thank you _so_ much. You're so sweet to think of me."

She touched Elphaba's shoulder in a grateful hold, smiling up at the taller girl. She was going to say more, when-

**"Galinda!"**

Galinda snapped her hand back as if she were burned, and immediately got to her feet to smile dazedly (but brilliantly) at the owner of the voice. All of this happened within two seconds.

Why?

It was Fiyero who had been the one to burst into the room.

"Galinda," He puffed, out of breath, "Have... have you seen... Sarima?" Gulping harshly, he gasped for air and straightened up.

"I've been looking for her everywhere." He said, voice returning to normal as he got the oxygen he needed. "And I haven't been able to find her. Do you know where she is?"

"Yes..." Galinda said breathily, batting her lashes at him.

As Fiyero stared at her expectantly, the question registered in Galinda's mind.

"I mean-" She corrected, voice still carrying the breathless quality, "No..."

She drew the word out, smiling flirtatiously and striking a pose for him. Fiyero, ignorant to Galinda's attempts to gain his interest, sighed heavily. He ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

"Great." He groaned, to himself as he walked out of the door and left. "Now we're _never_ going to catch the coach!"

As the door closed and Fiyero's voice and footsteps faded in the hallway, Galinda closed her eyes, becoming painfully aware of the eyes boring into her back.

"Galinda?"

"...Yes, Elphie?"

"What was that?"

"That was my reaction to Fiyero, Elphie."

"...I see."

After a moment's silence, Elphaba spoke up again.

"I think I've just discovered your problem, Galinda." The graduated student said, and Galinda finally turned around to face her.

"My problem?" Her brows drew together in confusion.

"Your problem." Elphaba repeated, sitting forwards, elbows on her knees, her face balanced on interlocked fingers as she peered at Galinda over the rims of her glasses.

"And this problem is...?"

"Simple." The green woman gazed at Galinda steadily. "Your problem is the very man you're trying so desperately to impress."

The words sunk in for Galinda and, with a jolt, she realized that Elphaba was right.

_"...Yes."_ She whispered her eyes glassy with shock. "You... you're right, Elphie."

Laughing in surprise, she picked up her book once more and flopped back down next to Elphaba.

"I've been smiling and sweet all this time... but no more."

Elphaba blinked and stared at Galinda, who had thrust the law book furiously at her. The blonde woman stared back, an uncharacteristic snarl on her fiercely determined face. "No more whining for me, Elphie."

She shook her head, blonde curls flying. "Take the book and help me study. I'll show Fiyero, and I'll show everyone!"

Elphaba blinked once again. Her gaze dragged down from Galinda's face to the book in her own arms and back again.

A smirk appeared on Elphaba's face.

"I see you're finally determined." She grinned, "So who am I to deny you now?"

* * *

The holiday break finally ended and soon all the classes at Shiz were back on track. Normal routines were soon resumed and the classes were back to their normal habits.

Except for the Wizard's first year criminal law class.

Unlike the others, their routines had changed. Workloads had increased, and pressure was rising as the date that the Wizard would post up the names of those receiving the internship drew closer. Clearly, this sudden raise in class work and homework meant that the Wizard was getting close to deciding who the lucky four would be. If there was ever a time to impress the Wizard, _now_ would be the best opportunity.

That was what lingered in the brains of every student in the Wizard's class that day, including one Fiyero Tiggular, who was nearly sweating bullets as the Wizard grilled him on their case study.

"H-he was clearly within his rights to ask to visit the child!" Fiyero stuttered under the Wizard's heated glare.

"Why though?" The seasoned professor asked. "He was only an anonymous sperm donor."

"But without his sperm," The Prince reasoned, "This child would not even exist!"

The Wizard thumped a fist on his desk and pointed a finger at the man. "This is the kind of thinking I want to see," He said. "Because now, you're thinking like a _lawyer."_

A smile spread on Fiyero's face and he returned to his desk, many of his classmates congratulating him and patting him on the back. Sarima smiled affectionately and hugged him tightly as he sat back down beside her.

Galinda ignored the racket behind her, immediately raising her hand. She waited patiently for the Wizard to notice her and when he did, she glanced down at her newly made and organized notes before speaking.

"Sir," She started politely, "Mister Tiggular makes an excellent point; but, I wonder... did the defendant keep track of every... erm, sperm emission, made throughout his life?"

Galinda paid no attention to the scoffs made behind her back and neither did the Wizard, who simply looked at her, intrigued.

"Interesting." He mused. "Why do you ask, Miss Upland?"

"Sir," Galinda peered up at her teacher with a professional air. "Unless the defendant contacted every person he had ever had a sexual encounter with to learn if a child had been resulted from those unions, he had no parental claim on this child whatsoever."

Amidst the gaping jaws and shocked glances (and the smirk from the green woman watching her from near the door), Galinda leaned forward in her seat, her blue eyes never leaving those of the Wizard's.

"Why _now?"_ She stressed. "_Why_ this sperm, sir?"

"In addition," She went on to say, "By Mister Tiggular's standard, any bouts of self pleasure that the defendant might have had that resulted in the emissions of certain fluids where the defendant's sperm was clearly _not_ seeking an egg could be termed as _reckless abandonment."_

Galinda fell silent, resting her argument. Behind her, beside her and all around her, the blonde's classmates stared with eyes as wide as saucers.

With a look on his face that said he did not expect it himself, the Wizard said into the silence that had fallen upon the room-

"Miss Upland, you have just won your case."

There was a pregnant pause, broken only by the sound of the bell ringing and the delayed start for the door by the stunned students.

"Oh my Oz." Galinda whispered, getting to her feet, the Wizard's words echoing in her ears. "Oh my Oz." She repeated, beginning to beam.

Once the strength had come back to both her legs, Galinda made a beeline for Elphaba. Just as she approached the green girl, the Wizard stepped in her way.

"Miss Upland!" He laughed, the more wonderful side of the Wizard making an appearance. "Lovely work in class today. I assume you're applying for my internship?"

Galinda's breath hitched, and her knees nearly went weak again. Was... was the Wizard _really_ asking her this? Was her _really_ asking for what she thought he was?

Before Galinda's mind could become too swamped with questions and render herself unable to respond, the socialite saw Elphaba behind the Wizard's shoulder, nodding encouragingly at her.

The blonde took an inaudible deep breath, and her mind cleared. Within that one gesture, she had once again become the confident woman that had won the case in class.

"Yes I am, sir." Galinda smiled. Reaching into her handbag (now with more space since Maddie had been left in her dorm room) Galinda pulled out crisp sheets of paper. Written on the stationary was the résumé that Elphaba had helped her create, and she handed it to the Wizard with a proud smile.

"Thank you in advance for your kind consideration" She said to the Wizard, before heading to the door. Galinda could barely contain her shrieks of delight and as she passed by the students who had stopped to watch, she paused as she stepped by Sarima and Fiyero. Over her shoulder, the blonde gave Fiyero a smug glance that clearly said '_I told you so'_ before she skipped out of the room, her classmates following after her dejectedly.

The Wizard, reading the resume before him, turned around to speak to his assistant. Before a word could make its way out of his mouth, the Wizard stopped abruptly. His nose twitched and Elphaba watched bemusedly as he lifted the pink stationary to his nose.

Right after, he held out Galinda's résumé to Elphaba, who took it gingerly.

"What's wrong with it?" Elphaba asked, frowning. She had helped Galinda set up the résumé personally, and frankly, she didn't see any problems with it.

"Smell it." The Wizard instructed.

Casting her boss an incredulous glance but not objecting to the command, Elphaba raised the papers to her nose...

...And was bombarded with the scent of the Gillikin Rose.

Galinda's favourite perfume.

"It's-"

"Scented." The Wizard finished for her, a deep belly laugh rumbling his small frame. "You know Elphaba, three months ago this would have gone straight into the trash."

"Be sure to put it on file." The man grinned before leaving Elphaba alone in the classroom.

With no one else finally around, Elphaba slid her glasses up to the bridge of her nose.

"Who's steamed as an artichoke now, Galinda?" She murmured fondly. She let the scent of Gillikin Rose waft through her nose once more before filing the résumé away, and just before she did, she nodded proudly at it and the image of Galinda attached to the front page.

When Elphaba left that day, she was doing something she hadn't ever done before.

She was smiling.


	8. Mumbling and Monkeys

**Mumbling and Monkeys**

Disclaimer – I do not own Elphaba or Galinda or Nessarose or Nikidik or Chistery or anyone mentioned in this story. They all belong to Gregory Maguire, L. F. Baum, and whoever else owns them.

* * *

Galinda flitted about her dorm room, tidying up her books and possessions, glancing at the clock on her wall every few minutes or so.

Elphaba was coming over.

Normally, Galinda would not have minded letting the green woman see the mess, but her room, (as the woman had realized the night before while falling asleep) had fallen into such a state of disarray that she could barely stand it and simply _had_ to tidy it up.

That and she had the sudden urge to make a good impression on the elder Thropp woman. It had been gnawing at her for a few weeks now, but why, she did not know. All she was aware of was that something was telling her to make Elphaba impressed and make the normally stoic woman dazzled by something she did; if it meant cleaning up her room so that Elphaba wouldn't have to tutor her in a messy environment, then so be it.

Yet Galinda never expected it to be such a difficult task. Cleaning was harder than it appeared – back when she lived with her sorority, and even before that when she had been living in her childhood estate with her parents, there had always been a maid around to clean up the filth and the blonde woman had never had to do more than straighten books and tuck away valuables.

Somehow though, she managed to clean everything up and even tie a bow around Maddie's collar before Elphaba came over for their daily study session together. After washing off her hands and changing into a cleaner dress (the one she had been wearing before had become sullied with dust and grime) Galinda sat on her bed, petting Maddie gently, waiting for Elphaba's arrival.

Soon enough, Galinda heard the expected knock on the door.

"Come in!" She sang and (sure enough) Elphaba stepped in.

"Elphie!" She grinned. Anticipating the usual nod and hello from the verdant woman, she was surprised to hear a breathless, incoherent jumble of words from the usually composed Elphaba.

"Elphie?" Galinda placed Maddie on the floor and walked over to the older woman, who coughed slightly, then took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry." She muttered. "I was running... unfortunately, I have to tell you that I can't stay today."

Galinda frowned. She had gone and done all this work and Elphaba couldn't even stay?

'_But she gave you time.'_ Her mind argued with her petty side. '_She's obviously in a hurry, but she stopped by to tell you that she couldn't study with you today. She could have easily decided to not come at all.'_

The petty side lost, and Galinda reached a hand out and touched Elphaba's arm.

"What's wrong?" The blonde woman asked, concerned. Looking closer now, she could see that Elphaba was not her usual self. Her glasses, old as they were, were crooked on her green face. The braid she usually kept her dark hair in was messier than usual, and she had not even bothered taking off her knit cap.

Elphaba sighed, and Galinda definitely knew something was wrong then; the sigh and the glint of worry in the green girl's brown eyes told it all.

"We're going to go see him today." Elphaba explained, wringing her hands together in uncharacteristic anxiousness. "Nessa and I, I mean. We're going to go see the man who took our house."

Immediately, Galinda turned and grabbed the jacket that was hanging on the edge of her bed. "What are you doing?" Elphaba asked.

"I'm coming with you." Galinda replied and Elphaba's eyes widened.

"Galinda," She said, "I don't think that's the best idea; what if-?"

Elphaba was cut off as a lone pale finger pressed against green lips, and Galinda looked up at her.

"Elphie," She said, "Hush. No matter what you say, I'm coming."

Through the lenses of her crooked glasses, Elphaba's eyes flicked down to the hand attached to the digit at her lips, and then at the face of Galinda herself, set into a determined and stern stare. Unable to do anything, Elphaba just nodded, and then chuckled as Galinda's glower turned into a bright smile of delight.

"One minute she means business, and the next she's acting like the childish sorority girl everyone believes she is." Elphaba mumbled under her breath. The sentence was said fondly though, and soon Galinda was tagging along behind Elphaba as they walked out of the dorm building.

* * *

"Thank you sir!" Galinda waved goodbye to the cabbie as he drove off. Turning back around, Galinda peered upwards at the building they stood in front of.

It was a house, but it was nowhere near as large as Galinda's parent's house in the Upper Uplands. It wasn't even as large as Galinda's sorority house had been. Instead, it was small, but it looked sturdy and comfortable. Galinda's could see why the Thropp sisters would live in a home like the one before them- it would suit them perfectly. Big enough for space, small enough to be taken care of with ease.

Bouncing over to Nessarose (who was sitting at the walk to the front door, waiting for Elphaba to arrive) Galinda smiled at her.

"Nessa?" She asked. "Are you ready for this?"

Throwing a questioning look at Elphaba as to why Galinda was with them, the woman just sighed heavily, something that seemed to be a habit with the younger brunette.

"I'm not sure, Galinda." She mourned. "We've tried once before but it didn't work. I don't like being rejected, Galinda- not at all."

Galinda could see why; rejection, for even the toughest person, could be hard to handle. For Nessarose, a girl bound to a wheelchair, the sting must have been even deeper. Rejection would be what she received on an almost daily basis- rejection from jobs, rejection from peers, rejection from society itself all because she could not stand up on her own; all because of her one, single flaw.

Hearing footsteps from heavy, booted feet, and feeling a presence stop behind her, Galinda felt Elphaba come closer. She realized that the same that held true for Nessarose also applied to her elder sister. For Elphaba however, the handicap was not an inability to walk, but her green flesh. Clearly, _she_ would have gone through as much (if not more) rejection as Nessa. While Elphaba was less sensitive and more composed than the younger Thropp, that didn't mean that deep down inside she was not bothered by rejection. It just meant that she expected it more, making the blow a little softer.

Bending over slightly, Galinda made sure that Nessarose's eyes were locked with her own.

"It's alright to be scared." Galinda told her, raising her voice a little, hoping that Elphaba knew that Galinda was saying this to her as well. "What you need to do is channel your fear. You are a strong woman and you must re-obtain what was wrongly taken from you."

"You can do this!" As Galinda smiled encouragingly, her eyes slid upwards to purposely look at Elphaba. Catching the look on the green girl's face, Galinda knew that _she_ knew it was meant for her too.

Nessa nodded, empowered by Galinda's words. Taking a deep breath, she rolled up the walkway and rapped on the door, Elphaba in tow, Galinda hanging behind, out of sight.

"Coming." A voice that could barely be heard called. Moments later, the door opened up and Galinda was shocked to see an ape, wearing a ridiculous butler's outfit.

"Chistery?" Nessarose frowned, recognizing the monkey.

"You... you know him?" Galinda gaped.

"Know him?"

Galinda looked at Elphaba. "Pardon?"

"I don't just know him." She repeated. Her jaw was clenched and Galinda could see that Elphaba's hands were balled up into fists by her sides, knuckles turning pale green as they were clenched tightly. "I saved him... and _now_ look."

Her voice, laced with bitterness, broke into a furiously choked whisper. "Chistery, what has that... that _monster_ done to you?"

Confused, Galinda said "Elphie, as horrendous as that outfit he is wearing is, I don't think making Chistery wear that is enough to call whoever dressed him a monster."

Next to Elphaba, there was a sudden, soft scream. Both the blonde and the brunette turned to look at Nessarose. Her eyes were wide open, a hand was over her mouth, and one of her fingers on her other hand was outstretched, pointing shakily at Chistery.

"His... his back-"Nessa breathed. "Look at his back!"

Squinting into the semi-darkness of the house, Galinda suddenly gasped, the bitter taste of bile rising to the back of her throat.

As Chistery shifted excitedly at seeing Nessarose and Elphaba, Galinda saw what Nessa was pointing to, and at what Elphaba was angry at. On Chistery's back, there were two wings- thick, large, leathery wings that were _clearly_ not a natural part of his body. The monkey chattered, but all he spoke was gibberish. His wings stretched out, beating cool air at the three of them.

"Who's at the door, Chistery?" The same old and faint voice grumbled. Suddenly, a hand pushed Chistery hard out of the way, and a small man with beady eyes and a long straggly beard peered outside.

Catching sight of the Thropp sisters, he sighed, a hand coming up to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"How many times have i told you two..." He trailed off, speaking too quietly for them to hear him.

"I want my house back, Mister Nikidik." She huffed, sounding for all the world like a bossy child.

"Dillamond had this house, and it's mine now, so..."

"You might have this house, but it's unlawful for you to have all of our possessions." Elphaba interjected, looking coldly at the short man. "And you also don't have the right to take Chistery."

Nikidik wrapped and wrapped a lock of his beard around his wrist. "The deed to the house says that I own-"here, he became too quiet to hear once more. "-And everything inside the house and on the property. Your belongings were here when I came, so it's all mine."

"But what about _him!?"_ Elphaba thundered, losing her temper as she motioned to Chistery, who was sitting up and rubbing at his arm, which he had fallen on when Nikidik pushed him. "You can't do what you did to him! It's not right!"

"Chistery is an animal." The man snorted. "I can perform what procedures I want..."

With that, Nikidik slammed the door in the two sister's faces. When the door was fully shut, the younger one sighed heavily, as she had before, and slumped in her chair, losing the proper and proud posture Galinda had always seen her with.

"He said no again, Elphaba." She whined. "Why... why don't we just face it? We're not going to get that house back. I'm never going to go to Shiz, and I'll be stuck without a good home and a job forever."

Miserably, she wheeled off to the side of the lawn, sulking and muttering to herself depressively. Galinda was surprised- she had never seen Nessarose like this before. However, she had no time to think on it; for now, Elphaba was trembling violently beside her.

"Elphie?" Galinda questioned, concerned. "Are you alright?"

"An animal." The green woman said, echoing Nikidik's earlier words. "HE can do any procedure on Chistery because Chistery is an animal."

"Elphie-"

"It's not _right."_ Elphaba hissed, eyes flaring. "It's not right to do that to _any_ creature! Chistery is not a test subject. He's a living, breathing being, not just something that monster can play with because he feel's it's needed in the name of science. Chistery's is a Monkey, and a damned smart one at that, even if he hasn't spoken, and-"

"Elphie, wait." Elphaba paused, mid-rant, to look at Galinda. "Did you just say what I thought you did?"

"Chistery is a Monkey, not just a test subject?" Elphaba repeated, confusion flooding where anger used to be.

"Elphie," Galinda squealed suddenly, making Elphaba even more confused, "You're a genius!"

Quickly, Galinda rushed over to the front door of the house. Ignoring Elphaba's inquiries as to what she was doing, and Nessarose's bemused looks, Galinda knocked on the door rapidly and stood back, waiting for it to open.

A minute later, Nikidik answered the door, Chistery cowering behind him.

"Sir," Galinda started before he could begin, "I am Miss Thropp's and Miss Thropp's lawyer.

"Lawyer?" Nikidik eyed her pink glittery dress and matching shoes unbelievingly.

"Yes, lawyer." Galinda nodded, suppressing a shudder as the creepy mumbling man looked her up and down. "I'm their lawyer, and being their lawyer, I must inform that that, from what I have seen, you've broken the law."

"I assure you," Nikidik muttered, "Everything I do is perfectly legal-"

"Oh?" Galinda raised an eyebrow, copying Elphaba's trademark move. "What about your... assistant, there? With the wings? I'm not specialist, but I can see that they have clearly been attached in some sort of experiment."

"Testing on animals is legal." The bearded man interrupted smugly.

"But testing on _Animals_ is not." Galinda countered. Behind her, Nessarose gasped, and Elphaba's eyes glinted in recognition and remembrance as the blonde woman voiced the law she had forgotten about.

"According to my clients, your monkey here is actually a Monkey." Galinda informed him. "And Animals, while not having the rights we humans do, have enough rights to ensure that testing and experiments like the ones you have performed are illegal to carry out on them."

"That's garbage." Nikidik snorted in his too quiet voice. "There's no way... prove he is..."

"But there _is."_ Galinda said, somehow understanding the sentence broken by mumbled. "Chistery simply needs to say but a word. Normal apes can't make a sound that sounds anything like a word. If Chistery does say something though, it process that he is an Animal."

"Like to see you try." Nikidik crossed his arms expectantly. "Had this chimp for a year now, and I've never heard him speak once, All he does is..."

As Nikidik broke off into a fresh round of mumbles, Nessa came back, closer to watch what was happening, and a hand appeared on Galinda's shoulder. Glancing back, Galinda saw Elphaba's face twisted in worry yet again.

"Galinda," She said urgently, "You should know- In Chistery's past, some Ozians... they abused him."

"_Abused_ him?" Galinda gaped, shocked. Abusing a regular animal was wrong, but how much more scarring was it to an Animal, who had a thinking mind? At least animals had blissful ignorance to the evil of their abuse, but Animals would have to live with the torture of knowing wrong was done to them willingly.

Elphaba nodded. "It's terrible, but the worst part is, because of the abuse he sustained, Chistery no longer has the ability to speak. I was trying to re=teach him, but then _he-"_She cast a furious glance to the still mumbling Doctor Nikidik, "-Took everything away. While I was making progress with Chistery before, he still had yet to put a word together. It's been a year, Galinda- if what Nikidik said is true, that Chistery still hasn't spoken a word, then it's all over."

"I know that, Elphie." Galinda sighed, turning back as she noticed Nikidik finally finishing his near silent ramble. "But this is the only chance we have."

Nodding for Nessarose to come over, Galinda let the paralyzed woman take her spot. Instantly, both the Thropp sisters beckoned Chistery to come closer to them, and when the winged Monkey did, both of them began to gently coax him into speaking.

"Chistery, _please."_ Nessarose begged; Galinda could see tears building in her eyes. "You need to speak. You _have_ to; if you don't, we won't be able to ever call this house home again!"

Yet for all the encouragements and pleas in the world, Galinda's heart broke to see Chistery fail to say a single word.

"You see?" Nikidik sneered, his mouth hard to see past his dirty beard. "I told you."

Nessarose said nothing. She simply bit her lip, and turned her face away. In her light brown eyes, Galinda could see the tears threatening to spill over her eyelashes, and Galinda nearly felt like crying herself. All that work, all that energy for nothing. The Thropp's still had no house, and no Chistery; all they had left was tears, wasted sweat, and an uneducated future for Nessarose.

Elphaba, however, remained stoic, unlike the other two women. Her eyes were hard, but Galinda could see past them to the hurt and fading hope underneath. Still, her voice did not betray her outward appearance as she said stiffly "Let's go."

"Miss Galinda, you've done your best but it seems there's nothing else we can do.

Crushed, Galinda turned away from the open door of the house. Beside her, Elphaba had taken a firm hold of Nessa's chair, and was ushering both her and Galinda out of the yard.

As all of them reached the front gate, Galinda heard something.

Turning back around, the blonde saw Chistery with his lips pursed as he concentrated, not moving as Nikidik tried to tug him back indoors.

"M... M-"

"Elphie!" Galinda gasped, grabbing the green girl's wrist and motioning frantically to the Monkey. "Elphie, I... I think Chistery is trying to talk!"

Elphaba froze, and spun around, bringing Nessa with her. The three watched as Chistery went on, his wings beating slowly.

"Mi- mi-mi-"

"This can't be!" Nikidik cried, his eyes widening. He tried to make a grab for Chistery, but the Monkey's moving wings kept the doctor from getting him.

"Miss... G-Ga- Glinda." Chistery finished, and a broad smile worked its way onto his leathery face.

"Miss Glinda1" He chirped. "Miss Glinda, Miss Glinda, Miss Glinda!"

Even though Galinda was the most stunned of them all, she was the first one to recover.. Though wearing impossibly high heels, she marched back up the walkway, and up to Nikidik, who's mouth was gaping so wide that it could have been used to catch flies.

"Well then," Galinda boomed, looking much taller than her tiny stature as she stood straight with her hands on her hips, "Would you still care to call Chistery an animal?"

"I-"

"No, you _wouldn't_." Galinda's eyes narrowed to cat-like slits. "You _couldn't._ Not after Chistery here has proven otherwise."

"Are you aware that Animals have the right to take people to court, Doctor Nikidik?" Galinda asked him as he shrunk back. "Are you aware that as well as Chistery being able to charge you for the abuse he suffered from your hands, he is also living proof of the fact that you have broken an Animal protection law?"

"He won't do that." Nikidik stated confidently, but the way he was now looking at the Monkey said otherwise.

"We are fully ready to report these misdeeds, Doctor Nikidik," Galinda said, "And we will."

"Unless... you give Miss Thropp and Miss Thropp here the deed to their house and clear out immediately."

For a moment, Nikidik's mouth opened and it seemed her way going to argue. But he closed it again, and Galinda could see the despair in his eyes, as he realized he had no way out of the predicament. Slowly, he reached into his coat pocket, and pulled out a small yet official looking form.

He pushed it into Galinda's hand, and quietly began to mutter again. This time though, his mutterings seemed darker, and angrily he grabbed a hat from seemingly out of nowhere, jammed it onto his head, and stalked away from the premises.

"My clients will be sure to leave your items outside for you to get, sir!" Galinda sang after the man, and the doctor, still mumbling to himself, threw Galinda a dirty glance before disappearing around the corner and out of sight.

Suddenly, Galinda heard a happy shriek ringing through the air. A second later, Nessa had wheeled up right next to Galinda with the widest smile the blonde had ever seen in her life on her face. The woman was startled as Nessarose reached up, and hugged Galinda's slim waist. "Thank you." She smiled, before she zoomed into the house, Chistery on the back of her wheels.

And as a warm feeling blossomed inside Galinda, she felt a smile as wide as the one of Nessa's face spread over her own.

"Galinda?" Elphaba's voice, unusually soft and gentle, called her.

"I'm feeling something I never have before." Galinda murmured, placing a hand over her heart as she savoured the feeling. It was better than hopping with her friends in Gillikin, better than getting into Shiz, better than anything Galinda had ever felt in her life.

With eyes closed, she turned to Elphaba.

"This is why we go through all of this hard work and years of study and school, isn't it Elphie?" Galinda breathed. "We do it to help those in need and bring justice to all."

"And that's why I want to say thank you, Galinda."

The blonde's eyes shot open to see Elphaba, looking down at her with a smile Galinda had never seen before.

"I've tried to get this house back from Nikidik ever since the Goat who used to own it left. I worked for the Goat. His name was Dillamond; he was a doctor, actually, and he used to teach at Shiz. When I wasn't helping the Wizard, I was helping him. He gave Nessa and I a place to stay, but he had to leave. Doctor Dillamond was going to give us this house, but something – and I'm still not sure what- happened." She said slowly.

"For a year, I've tried. I read over every law book, reviewed everything I ever learned at Shiz, and not once did I ever think of using Animal Rights laws to help Chistery and myself as well." Elphaba shook her had slowly as she spoke. Galinda tried to look at her eyes, but a sudden glare of light from the green woman's glasses stopped her. "This means I've still got a lot more to learn."

"That's not true, Elphie." Galinda spoke up. When Elphaba's gaze flickered with confusion, Galinda beamed up at her and said,

"It only means that not you have a friend to help you when you need it, because that's what friends do."

"...Friends, Galinda?"

"Best friends." Galinda giggled.

"Now come on," She grinned, tugging a surprised but not resisting Elphaba inside. "You still have to show me your house."


	9. Looking Up

**Looking Up**

Disclaimer – I do not own Elphaba, Glinda, Fiyero, or any other characters mentioned in this story. I do not own any places. They all belong to others, not me.

* * *

A few weeks after Galinda managed to win Elphaba and Nessarose their house back, something happened; something that managed to throw the entire Shiz student body into a tizzy.

That something being the Wizard's internship.

The internship, on its own, was already a very exciting topic. The four lucky ones chosen each year to receive it instantly became cream of the crop students, the elite few; the Wizard was an influential figure both inside and outside Shiz walls, after all. The chosen four would be admired by their peers, and other teachers and older students would respect them as well.

However, this year, it was even more of a hot topic for the single fact that the Wizard had posted the internship early.

To the students in his class, it was puzzling, but a delightful surprise nonetheless. To the older students and other teachers however, it was more of a shock. For years, the Wizard had always released his internship list on the same date every year; for him to change it meant that there was something big going on, something important.

Eventually, word as to why the Wizard had made such a strange move got out and spread from mouth to mouth like wildfire. Apparently, the Wizard's law firm was taking on a huge case- a relatively famous person, gossip did not say who, was accused of a huge crime. The press would be crawling all over the case, eager for a good story, and the pressure would be on the Wizard and his firm and partners. Therefore, he needed extra help, in this case in the form on the four still unknown interns.

That day, in front of the Wizard's classroom, all of the people in his first year class stood waiting with bated breath to see who the four interns would be. The students were buzzing with excitement and anxiety, and Galinda Upland was no exception.

"I'm so nervous, Elphie." Galinda whispered, raising a hand to chew on her nails. Hand halfway to her mouth, the blonde paused and dropped it back to her side; there was no way she was going to ruin her new manicure, not even for this.

"It will be fine, Galinda." Elphaba reassured her calmly, standing next to the younger woman. Galinda smiled at this, her anxiety turning into gratitude – a few months ago, Elphaba most likely would have told her off for being nervous, the green woman being the easily annoyed hothead she was.

Galinda's worry returned soon after, and instead of biting her nails, Galinda bit her lip, trying as best she could not to smudge the pink gloss she had applied earlier.

"It might be fine, Elphaba," She wailed, "But the anticipation is killing me! Why can't the Wizard just hurry?"

As if in response to that, the Wizard suddenly threw open the doors and stepped out of his classroom. Unfazed by the crowd his class had drawn into, the Wizard grinned.

"Children!" He boomed, his voice strong and powerful, contrasting against his small aging frame. Apparently, it was the 'wonderful' Wizard speaking to them. "It seems the day where I decide which four of you will work with me has finally come, though much sooner than I expected it would."

"Still though, even without the extra weeks of consideration, I know that the four that I have chosen are worthy of the internship and have risen above and beyond their classmates."

"Maybe they can teach you." The Wizard smiled, and though it was not said bitingly or snobbishly, Galinda knew that everyone, save for the cocky and overconfident, felt the words cut deep.

Briskly striding over to a bulletin board set next to the classroom doors, the Wizard presented the paper with the four named on it with a flourish. Holding it high into the air for everyone to see, the professor then tacked it to the board.

"I expect the four of you to be there on Monday morning." The teacher sand as he turned around, still keeping the contents of the paper hidden behind his back.

"Oh, and Elphaba?"

When the Wizard called her name, Elphaba glanced at him inquisitively.

"I expect you to be there too." He said, and the green woman blinked.

"What for, sir?"

"You're to be my co-council for this trial." He beamed, and when Galinda glanced at Elphaba's face, she could see the sudden dumbfounded glaze in the normally sharp eyes.

"If you prove yourself during this trial, you'll find the title 'associate' attaching yourself to your name Miss Thropp." The Wizard nodded. Snapping out of her daze, Elphaba nodded back, standing straighter than before. "Of course, sir. I promise you that I will"

The smile on the Wizard's face grew wider as he crowed "Nine o'clock, Monday morning people!" As he turned to go, the students immediately closed in on the list behind him.

As he passed by Elphaba and Galinda, still making no move to go to the list, he paused mid-step.

"Be sure to dress appropriately." He remarked dryly as his eyes trailed over Elphaba's ensemble, a faded navy blue dress with her threadbare jacket, and the matching knit cap that fit snugly over her head.

As soon as he nodded goodbye once more to both Elphaba and Glinda and went out of sight, Galinda turned so that she was facing the taller girl directly.

"Elphie!" The socialite squealed, "I'm so proud of you!"

"It's hard to believe." Elphaba murmured, a smile slowly working itself across her face as the information began to fully sink in. "Did... did that _really_ just happen? Have I actually understood that the Wizard wants _me_ helping him on the case as well?"

"All that work is finally paying off for you, Elphie." Galinda grinned up at her. "Soon, it will be just like you told me; it'll be the Wizard and you, Oz's favourite team."

"Speaking of favourites..." Elphaba broke out of her euphoria to glance at the pushing and shoving droves of students in front of her and Galinda. "I have to wonder, who has the Wizard chosen?"

The flock of students parted suddenly and Kumbricia stumbled out with her hair mussed and clothes rumpled, probably from shoving her way through the crowd. The only thing that was firmly in place on her body was the smirk on her face.

"Just like I expected," She purred. "I'm on the list."

She sauntered away, somehow managing to walk off with an air of power and dignity even with her hellish appearance.

Seeing and hearing Kumbricia, nervousness sprang up and bubbled in the pit of Galinda's stomach as she wondered to herself '_Who are the other three?'_

A few of Galinda's classmates, dejected and depressed by not seeing their names on the list, moped away. Galinda decided to try and take advantage of this, but even with the reduced amount of students the Gillikinese girl could not see over or around the remainder of the class.

Cursing her lack of height, she struggled to look over the shoulders of the shorter classmates (though none were as short as her) and even attempted to jump up to see the list. It was to no avail though, for Galinda still had no inkling of who the remaining three interns could be.

Yet she did not need to read the paper to know who has received the internship as a shrill voice pierced the air.

"FIYERO!" A woman (Sarima of course) tugged said man out of the crowd with her. "_We got the Wizard's internship!"_

"Are... are you sure?" He glanced over the heads of the others at the paper, clearly stunned.

"I just checked the list myself." She nodded frantically, and the man pulled her into a tight embrace.

"This is absolutely amazing." He gasped. "This... this is the perfect time."

And Galinda watched as Fiyero slowly and surely bent on a single knee. Out of his coat pocket, Galinda felt a jolt as he drew out a dark, velvet box and opened it. Inside, Galinda could see the glint of the Vinkus-wrought silver and the diamond jewel cut into the diamond shape that was Fiyero's family symbol.

"Marry me?" He asked Sarima, plucking out his family engagement ring and holding it up to the wide eyed woman.

She stared down at the ring and the man on bended knee before her. "Fiyero... it's beautiful..."

"Then say yes!" Fiyero pleaded, interrupting her- it seemed he hadn't heard the pause in her voice and assumed she had finished. His breathing grew ragged in anticipation. "Say yes, and it's yours."

"I..." Sarima's eyes flicked away from Fiyero's to the crowd watching her. For a split second, her eyes met with Glinda's.

"I will."

The broken pieces of Galinda's heart shattered even further as Fiyero stood and smiled, looking painfully handsome. He slid the ring onto Sarima's small hand, and Galinda forced herself not to scream as she saw him pull his new fiancé into another hug and a sweet kiss.

The students broke away from the intern list to draw instead around Sarima and Fiyero, congratulating the newly engaged couple. Galinda found herself stumbling forward, searching for support as her knees felt like they were about to give out.

She found the support she was searching for on the patch of wall beside the bulletin board. Vaguely, Galinda felt someone beside her, but she paid them no mind; her eyes were practically glued to the torturous scene, though she wished for nothing more than to tear them away.

'_That should be __**you!'**_ Something inside of her hissed; it was hurt and seething with jealousy. '_It should be __**your**__ finger that his ring is on, and not __**hers.'**_

'_It doesn't matter what should or shouldn't be.'_ Galinda shut her eyes, and as the tears that she had tried so desperately to keep in dripped down her cheeks and off her face, she clutched at the fabric over her heart in pain. '_Because it's __**hers**__ and there's nothing I can do.'_

"Galinda?" Someone called, but Galinda ignored them.

"There's a girl I know." She whispered to herself, her tear-filled eyes locked on Sarima. "And he loves her so."

"But I'm not that girl."

The heartbroken woman felt a sob rising up in her throat. Unable to stop it, she clapped a hand over her mouth and stifled it, turning her face away so that no one would be able to see her tears.

"Galinda..." The voice called once again.

Sniffling, the blonde realized who was saying her name. Wiping off her face as best she could, she turned to the one woman she knew she could let herself cry around. "What is it, Elphie?"

The woman's eyes were blurry from the rubbing and the unshed tears, but even through the distortions Galinda could see the half smile on the green woman's face.

"This might cheer you up." Elphaba chuckled. With a firm tug, Galinda heard something rip and felt a paper being placed into her hand.

"What's this?" She mumbled, blinking rapidly to clear away the fuzziness of her vision.

As she read it, the film of tears over Galinda's eyes disappeared as they widened.

"Oh. My. _Oz." _Was all she could say.

There, on the sheet was the list of interns. And the very last name on the list stated in clear, bold letters-

**GLINDA UPLAND.**

"..."

Slowly, without looking at the verdant woman beside her, Galinda rose up her arm and held it out to Elphaba.

"Pinch me."

"Pardon me?" Elphaba asked, staring at her quizzically.

"Pinch me. _Now."_

Still looking curious but not wanting to make Galinda upset by not following her orders, Elphaba made no further protests. Taking the blonde's arm into her hand, she squeezed Galinda's skin between her index finger and thumb until the creamy skin turned deathly pale.

Once the pain came, Galinda snapped her arm back reflexively. Even though there were now welts on her arm in the shape of a semi-circle and her flesh was turning a bright, angry red, Galinda squealed in excitement as she realized that the situation was completely real.

The paper fluttered out of Glinda's hand in her excitement, and Elphaba bent over and picked it up, sliding her glasses closer to her face as she looked at the sheet once more.

"But it looks like the Wizard misspelled your name." Elphaba pointed out the lack of the first 'a' in Galinda's name on the sheet.

"That doesn't matter to me." Galinda breathed, her eyes beginning to sparkle with delight.

"In fact..." The blonde turned to Elphaba.

"From now on, please refer to me as Glinda."

"But Galinda-"

"_Glinda,_ Elphie." The newly renamed Glinda stressed. "My name is _Glinda_ now."

"I'll never remember." Elphaba said, giving up. One had to admit though that she wasn't putting up much of a struggle anyway.

"You will." Glinda insisted. "You will, I can assure you. In fact, everyone will." Her voice rose intensely to an ear-splitting, ecstatic shriek as she screamed,

"_**I, GLINDA UPLAND, RECIEVED THE INTERNSHIP!"**_

All attention snapped to Glinda right then, as she began to laugh and practically dance with joy.

Turning to look at the other men and woman (all staring at her blankly with dropped jaws) Glinda felt a surge of happiness and satisfaction course through her when she saw the engaged couple's flabbergasted expressions.

Walking up to the group of students, they parted for her as she made her way through them and up to Sarima and Fiyero. When Glinda reached the prince and his bride-to-be, she smiled.

"Fiyero, do you remember that time back in Gillikin?"

With Sarima's now suspicious eyes on him, Fiyero nodded awkwardly.

"This is _so much better_ than that!" She cooed as a barely disguised smug smile appeared on her face. Fiyero coughed, feeling Sarima's suspicious gaze turn into a penetrating stare.

But, for once in her life, Glinda simply did not care.

She turned on her designer heels and left them all behind, Elphaba's mouth twitching as she followed behind Glinda.

"I hope you're happy." The green woman chuckled. "I think that everyone back there is asking Fiyero just exactly what you meant by that."

"I hope you're happy too, Elphie." Glinda grinned. "Because that last comment was a sign- a sign that you're starting to rub off on me."

"I'd hope not." Elphaba said sounding mockingly concerned. "I'd hate to see you green."

"Who knows?" Glinda sang. "Maybe if you rub hard enough, some of that green will come off."

Elphaba laughed harder than Glinda had ever seen her laugh, and Glinda was delighted. They fell into a comfortable silence after, until it was broken by Glinda speaking up once again.

"And... Elphie?"

"What is it, Ga-"

She stopped, seeing Glinda's sudden glare.

"Glinda?"

Suddenly, Glinda lunged at the taller girl, and pulled her into a hug. Due to their height differences, Elphaba was bent over uncomfortably with Glinda's arms wrapped around her neck. Still, Glinda was glad, for even though Elphaba's body was positioned in such a way, Elphaba wasn't tensing up to complaining or trying to push her away. In fact, Elphaba was relaxed, her body tension free.

It wasn't much.

But it was a start.

Pulling back, Glinda smiled once again up at Elphaba.

"Congratulations again, Elphie."

Elphaba's eyes flickered with an unknown emotion, but Glinda didn't bother to figure it out; she was enraptured with the rare smile that had appeared on the verdant woman's face.

"Congratulations to you too, _Glinda."_ She said, and Glinda resisted the urge to hug Elphaba once again.

So, in a brave move, Glinda linked their arms together. Elphaba cocked an eyebrow, but Glinda was glad to see that she did not slip her arm away and out of Glinda's.

"What do you say to celebrating?" Glinda asked, glancing upwards at the taller woman.

"Only if you're paying." Elphaba smirked, and Glinda couldn't help but laugh.

Things were finally looking up.

* * *

Chapter 9 of Legally Wicked is finally here folks. I'm honestly sorry that I didn't post this earlier- I had a case of writer's block for a bit, and then right after that I had an entire slew of projects and whatnot that count a lot for my grade taking up my time. Those are over now, though - so I'll post as much as I can. Thank God it's only a month or so til summer break, right?


	10. The Faerie Queen

**The Faerie Queen**

**Disclaimer – I do not own Wicked or Legally Blonde. I do not own any characters mentioned within this story, nor do I own any places. **

* * *

The young blonde bared her teeth at herself as she peered into a mirror. Ensuring that her teeth were perfect and pearly white, she stepped back and examined her reflection for what had to be the tenth time that day.

And it was only seven in the morning.

The weekend after the intern list was posted and Galinda had discovered her name (albeit missing one 'a') had flown by, and the newly-renamed Glinda could barely remember any of it. All she _could_ remember was hastily scrawling letters addressed to her parents and her sorority telling them of the good news, and the celebration party she had thrown, the partygoers consisting of herself, Elphaba, Nessarose, Chistery, and Maddie. Though it was the smallest party Glinda had ever attended or thrown in her life, it was, without a doubt, the _happiest_ of them all.

Yet that happiness she felt then was nothing compared to the intensity of what she felt now, staring at herself in the looking glass.

She was wearing a navy blue dress suit, the fabric all crisp and sharp angles. Momentarily, Glinda had considered wearing something brighter, but the woman decided against it- she was leaving Galinda behind, and introducing Glinda to the team. She needed to make a good impression on everyone when she went to work with the legal team, after all.

_Work._

Glinda was so excited; however, that same excitement was giving rise to nervousness as well, and seeing herself in the mirror, wearing a serious, no-nonsense outfit just served to amplify her current emotions.

_This_ was what had been on her mind since the minute she saw her name up on the list. _This _was the moment she had been waiting for.

The Wizard had said to be at the building at nine sharp, but Glinda had woken up at six, just as the sun had pulled over the horizon. She washed and combed her hair, opting to leave it in loose yet perfect curls; she was trying to leave Galinda behind after all, and one of the ways she felt she could was by changing her looks ever so slightly. Glinda was a woman who meant business- Galinda did not know what the _meaning_ of business was.

Now, an hour later, the sun was higher up in the sky and Glinda was getting ready to leave. A few splashed of perfume on her body, a last dab of colour on her lips, and she was ready to go. It was only seven, maybe half-past by now, but she wanted to be there bright and early.

Not only that, but Glinda had to meet Elphaba as well. In her euphoric haze after learning she had received the internship, Glinda had forgotten to ask for directions to the building where they would meet. Luckily, Elphaba had agreed to show her where it was.

Slipping on classy black heeled shoes, ones so different from her normally hot pink ones, Glinda gave Maddie (who was trotting at her heels) one last affectionate pat on the head before she quickly and quietly opened the door of her dorm room...

...Only to crash right into someone.

"Oof!" they grunted, and Glinda staggered back from the impact, stumbling back into her closed door.

"I'm sorry!" Glinda cried, apologizing profusely. The person righted themselves, and brushed off their clothes.

"It's alright." They said, and Glinda's eyes widened as she saw a familiar flash of green on their body.

"Elphie!" Glinda squealed. Though it was unlike her 'new' self to squeal, the blonde could make exceptions for Elphaba, right?

Elphaba herself looked back down at Glinda. Unlike the blonde, she needed no new clothes to look like a serious, no-nonsense woman, but that did not stop her. Glinda noticed she was lacking her usual knit cap, but her hair was still styled in its severe braid. She wore a simple frock, unlike Glinda's dress suit, but the jacket she wore, different than her normal one, matched enough with her frock that she looked professional enough, in a ragged sort of way.

"What are you doing here?" Glinda asked the green woman.

"Nice to see you too, Glinda." Elphaba remarked. Glinda said nothing about the dry tone in her friend's voice. She just smiled, because Elphaba had remembered the change in her name.

"I decided to come and meet you here instead of where we were going to meet, just to show you the shortest route from your dorm." Elphaba explained afterwards, answering Glinda's question.

"You're sweet, Elphie." Glinda smiled. Unconsciously, she wondered why Elphaba had come so early, and why the woman had come to show her the shortest path when she was sure that their meeting place would be the start of the shortest path.

"Why don't we go now?" The blonde suggested. With that she stepped around the green woman and away from the door. It was only after she was halfway down the hallway did Glinda realize that Elphaba was not following her, after hearing no footsteps besides her own.

Whirling around, Glinda turned to look for Elphaba.

"Elphie?"

Said woman was still standing exactly where she had been before, with her mouth quirked into an amused little grin, her eyes echoing the expression. One brow was cocked in her trademark arch.

"Elphie, let's go!" Glinda insisted, beckoning for Elphaba to catch up. "We'll be late!"

"It's a bit... _early_, don't you think?"

"But Elphie, you told me that we had to go early so that-"

"Glinda..." Elphaba chuckled, "They haven't even unlocked the doors yet."

"Oh." Glinda said quietly, feeling a flush rising to her cheeks. Trying to force it down, Glinda covered up with a charming smile.

"But being there _this_ early will impress people." Glinda nodded. "Being there when they unlock the doors; it shows our dedication!"

"If by dedication you mean obsession, then yes." Elphaba quipped, ducking for safety as Glinda drew a pen from her purse and threw it at her.

* * *

Eventually, they _did_ leave the dorm, and one carriage ride later they were at the building.

It was large and magnificent- a new style of building, more modern than the architecture of most buildings in the area surrounding Shiz University and Shiz itself. However, it suited the type of business that was done inside it- the Wizard was a man of progression after all; a man who would move forward at all costs.

Yet the doors to that modern building were not even open yet, as Elphaba had predicted (though Glinda insisted to try anyway). Waiting for the people to unlock the doors to the building, Elphaba and Glinda had gone into a café across the street, Glinda purchasing breakfast for the both of them; for herself, because she had not eaten anything, and for Elphaba because Glinda had a feeling that Elphaba had not eaten either.

Soon enough, after glancing out of the window and to the building across the street, the blonde socialite saw people entering the building. Leaping to her feet (which was no easy task, considering her heels) Glinda forced Elphaba up as well, and they ran across the road and into the building.

The place was as modern on the inside as it was on the outside. Classy and expensive looking tables and chairs furnished the inside of the lobby. There were two doors leading to two parallel staircases, and a sign next to each of these doors stated which offices were on which floors in clear, large letters.

Determining that they had to go to the third floor, Elphaba and Glinda took the second of the two staircases up. Though Glinda normally would have complained about walking up all of the stairs (they _were_ unusually steep) she practically floated up them with a bright and excited smile, leaving Elphaba behind to run up after her.

Eventually, they reached the third floor, and by then Elphaba had caught her breath. Standing in front of the door to the law office, Galinda threw it open and strutted in, only to freeze.

Elphaba nearly walked straight into the smaller girl as she stopped abruptly. About to ask her what was wrong, Elphaba finally noticed what had made Glinda stop.

At that same moment, Fiyero and Sarima had just stepped in from the other staircase.

Fiyero, clad in a light tan suit, squirmed uncomfortably as Sarima glared coolly at Glinda. The woman's arms were crossed over her chest, covering part of the black dress suit that she wore.

For a moment, all four of them stood there- Elphaba and Fiyero averting their eyes from Sarima and Glinda, engaged in a heated but silent staring contest.

The awkward scenario was only broken up when Kumbricia sauntered right through the space in between them, cutting off Sarima's and Glinda's fields of sight.

"If you don't hurry," The woman drawled, "You're going to be late- the official meeting starts in five minutes."

As she turned around the corner and disappeared from their views, all four of them scrambled to reach the meeting room. Glinda began to walk briskly after Kumbricia, never faltering in her steps, and Elphaba matched her pace, walking beside her. Likewise, Fiyero and Sarima began to do the same.

Somehow, Glinda or Sarima would always up the pace; if it was to get there faster, or to beat the other to the room, neither of them knew. Every time though, the other woman would match the pace immediately and soon enough all of them were moving at pace where they were almost running.

They reached the doors of the meeting room at the same time, and Glinda and Sarima threw open the doors. As they went in, the doors flew open with a loud bang, and the Wizard (sitting inside, speaking to Kumbricia quietly) looked at them, startled, while Kumbricia turned her face away and tried not to laugh.

"Glad to see you've made it, ladies and gentleman." The Wizard nodded, ignoring their loud entrance. "Please, take a seat."

They did as they were told, but as they reached the table, Fiyero stopped and pulled out a chair. Seating herself in it, Sarima smiled gratefully at her husband-to-be, before casting a glance at Glinda and smirking. Discreetly, she stretched her arms out on the table, and the engagement ring on her finger glittered in the light.

A stab of pain flashed in Glinda's heart at seeing the ring, but anger overtook it.

"Elphie," Glinda muttered, so low that no one could hear her except for Elphaba and herself. "Offer me a chair."

"Pardon me?" Elphaba asked her incredulously.

"Just do it, please?" Glinda asked her softly.

Elphaba, though confused, did as she was told. She pulled the chair she was about to seat herself in out, and swept a hand over it, motioning for Glinda to sit in it instead.

"Thank you, Elphaba." Glinda smiled brightly at her. The green woman simply responded with a 'you're welcome' and sat down next to Glinda. Out of the corner of her eye, Glinda could see that Sarima was looking a little bit miffed.

'_Serves her right.'_ The Blonde couldn't help but think.

The catty competition would have gone on, had the Wizard not finally stood up and started to address them.

"Ladies, Gentleman." He repeated, echoing his words from earlier. "You are the best of the best from Shiz, so I expect nothing less than your all during this case."

He smiled then.

"So let's give it all we have, shall we?"

Just like in class, the wonderful Wizard persona melted away, revealing the colder, calculating man underneath. Spreading papers across their work table, he pulled out a piece of paper.

"This is our client." He said to them. Flipping the sheet around, her revealed that it was actually a head shot.

"Say hello to Lurline." He remarked, dropping the photograph on the table and pushing it to the five.

The headshot was of a beaming woman. She was pale, but in a good way- her skin, even in the picture, had a glow to it that signified good health. Wavy blonde locks framed her face, clearly natural in colour and perfectly taken care of. Her teeth were straight, not a single one crooked, and her eyes were a beautifully intense shade of blue.

"She's very well known. Can anyone-"

Even before he could finish his sentence, Glinda's hand flew into the air.

"Yes, Miss Upland?" The Wizard glanced at her, pausing.

"I know who she is!" Glinda gasped, eyes shining with excitement.

"Do you mind telling us who she is, then?" Kumbricia asked, her eyes drinking in the picture of the woman.

" Her name is Lurline, and she's a sorceress!" Glinda replied enthusiastically.

"Correct." The Wizard affirmed. "She's a sorceress of much fame. A leading authority on sorcery and its applications to the world around, she's so talented at her craft that she has earned the title of 'Lurline, the Faerie Queen'."

"What was her crime?" Sarima asked.

"Murder." The Wizard replied darkly. "The murder of her husband. He was thirty years older than her, a rich old gentleman. According to Lurline, their marriage was a happy union."

"However, a week and a half ago, she was found by her step-daughter kneeling in her dead husband's body. Both her and the body were found in a puddle of blood, not making her plea of innocence very believable."

"What was the murder weapon?" Fiyero asked, grimacing after hearing what the crime scene looked like.

"A musket." The professor replied. "Yet we must remember that Lurline is a skilled sorceress. Clearly, she could have cast some sort of spell that could have manipulated the shooting without her laying a finger on it, as well as send the gun away after she was done with it."

"What was her motive?" Elphaba questioned. "Was she trying to take his money?"

"She wouldn't need to." Surprisingly, it was Glinda who spoke, and all of them turned to look at her.

"Lurline is very, _very_ famous to those in the sorcery community." The socialite explained. "I should know; she's quite the inspiration to all those in sorcery, including myself. She's so famous she's built her career on magic: Seminars, classes, books, _everything._ She's made a fortune from it!"

"Miss Upland is correct... again." The Wizard added in. "Currently, _thankfully_, there is no set motive yet."

"Well that solves it, doesn't it?" Glinda piped up, and once again, everyone turned to stare at her.

"Solves what?" Sarima snorted.

"The case. Obviously, Lurline is innocent!" Glinda was looking at them all with disbelief. Wasn't it obvious?

"How so?" The Wizard looked at her challengingly.

"She has no motive." Galinda explained. "She loved her husband; she didn't need his money; why would she kill him? What would be the point?"

"The prosecution won't see it that way, Miss Upland" The Wizard said. "They will simply insist on charging her for the same crime, to a lesser degree."

"Speaking of how people see it, who believes she's guilty?"

Immediately (and unsurprisingly) Sarima raised her hand. Fiyero followed suit, and it looked as if Kumbricia (eyes still trained on the photo of Lurline) was struggling with her opinion. Galinda's arm, however, firmly remained down, and Elphaba's did too.

The Wizard nodded as he saw their hands, more of an assuring nod than a nod that agreed with their opinions.

"Here's where you all come in- I need you to go to the prison and speak to Lurline about this case."

"I'm her one chance to win," The man sighed, "But she doesn't trust me. I need you all to go and speak to her. Try to coax what information you can out of that woman, because Oz knows that I can barely get a word out of that mouth."

"Are you going to be coming with us, sir?" Fiyero asked, and the older man shook his head.

"Unfortunately, no. I have other work I have to do for this case."

"However, Elphaba will be the one to take you to the holding centre. It should be halfway to the Emerald City."

Before a word could come out of their mouths, the Wizard held up his hand, silencing them. "I've gone to the liberty of purchasing you all train tickets to where she is being held. It shouldn't take you that long to get here and back."

"Elphaba, when you all get to the train station, I want you to go to the ticket booth and ask for the tickets. Just tell them they're reserved by the Wizard. It shouldn't be too hard."

"Now go!" He shouted, waving them off with lazy flicks of his hand. As they scrambled out of their chairs and to the doors as quickly as possible, a devious smile appeared on his face as he called out after them,

"I want her whipped into shape, children!"

* * *

To make it up for my long gap in posting, I've uploaded the 10th chapter this week as well. Hope you liked it!


	11. Toss, Toss!

**Toss, Toss!**

**Disclaimer – I do not own Elphaba, Glinda, or any other characters mentioned in this story. They do not belong to me, and never will... unfortunately.**

* * *

The man sitting at the counter looked up as a crew of five staggered in, all but one of them looking terrified of their surroundings. The man couldn't help but smile; this _was_ a prison, after all. Granted, it was a women's prison, but a place full of criminals anyways.

They looked terribly out of place, in their expensive business suits and dress suits. From years of experience, the man could tell that they were either interns or greenhorn lawyers.

Yet one of them caught his attention, more than the others did. His brows flew upwards as he saw that she was not a greenhorn, but _literally_ green. She stood out more than other others, not just for the colour of her skin but for her clothes; while they were dressed up to the nines in professional clothing, she wore a simple dark blue frock and matching jacket. However, she had something that the others didn't have- that being the air of leadership; nervous leadership, but leadership nonetheless.

"May I help you?" He asked as the group drew closer.

"Yes, you can." The green one said, speaking for the entire group. "We work for the Wizard, and he sent us to speak to his client on his behalf. If we could-?"

All that green bean had to say was 'the Wizard' and his interest was immediately piqued.

"Yes, of course." He nodded hurriedly. "I'll take you right away."

Immediately, he got to his feet with the five following close behind him. He led them to a room, where the walls were the same fading shade of beige as the floor, and left promptly, going to fetch their client.

Right after he left, Glinda let out a huge, heavy breath.

"I'm glad that that's over." She murmured quietly. Glinda was terrified of the fact that in every room they had passed along the way to this one, there had been jailed woman glaring, staring, or jeering at her, and every single one of them looked as if they could snap her into two.

"Not _just_ yet." Elphaba responded, overhearing the blonde's comment. "We still have to meet the client."

She sat in the seat next to Glinda's as they waited for the man to return. In the room they were in, there was a table, and currently only Elphaba and Glinda sat at it- Fiyero, Sarima, and Kumbricia were having their own deep conversation.

"Not to mention we still have to retrieve the alibi." She added in, shuffling papers the Wizard had given her on the case as she took them out of her messenger bag.

"It should be easy enough." Glinda hummed, now more calm. "Lurline is a very nice woman."

"And you know this how?" Elphaba cocked an eyebrow at the tiny blonde.

"Well, you see-"

The door to the room opened and Glinda was interrupted by it as she (and the rest of the legal team) turned to look.

"Thirty minutes." The guard growled, before shoving their client into the room and leaving without another care.

Stumbling from the force the man had pushed her with, the woman stood straight, brushed off what dirt she could from her clothes, and threw a dirty look at the window where the man had just passed by. Finally noticing the others in the room, she smiled pleasantly.

"Hello there." She said, her voice quiet yet sophisticated. "I'm Lurline."

As she looked at them, they were _all_ stunned (save for Glinda), though Fiyero was the only one to gawk openly. The headshot of the woman did her no justice- in person, she was more radiant than any picture or painting of her could ever show. Like Glinda, she looked to be from Gillikin, the pale fair skin and blue eyes and naturally pink mouth giving her away. Her hair, however, was unusually perfect. Although she was in prison, it looked as if she had just stepped out of a salon, for the blonde hair hung in golden waves with not a strand askew or out of place.

Elphaba was the first one to speak.

"Good morning." The green woman greeted. "Mrs-"

"Please," Lurline interrupted, holding up a hand for her to pause, "Just call me Lurline."

"A-Alright then." Elphaba blinked, taken aback by her friendliness and casual manner.

Coughing to rid her voice of the surprise that had slipped into her tone, Elphaba smoothly made the switch from awkward to professional as she spoke once more.

"My name is Elphaba Thropp. I'm your co-counsel for your trial. The Wizard sent me here today with these four interns- they are the best of the best from Shiz law school. We're here to help you with your defence, and we will do all that we can to aid you."

"Thank you so much." Lurline smiled, and, striding across the room, she shook Elphaba's hand vigorously. Discreetly glancing at the green girl, Glinda could see the shock in her eyes; no one touched Elphaba, ever, due to their irrational fears of turning green themselves and Elphaba's dislike of physical contact. However, if Lurline had even noticed that the woman whose hand she was currently holding was not of normal colouring, then she made no sign that she did.

After shaking each and every one of their hands, the sorceress took a seat at the table, the other three interns joining her, Elphaba and Glinda right after them. Pulling out the papers she had been holding earlier, Elphaba laid them out for Lurline to see. Written on them as well as the Wizard's notes were little added ones scrawled in Elphaba's own spiky writing.

"Now the Wizard has briefed us all on your case so far." Elphaba said, pushing her glasses back onto the bridge of her nose and glancing at her notes. "There is a significant amount of evidence against you so far. However, even with that fact, we can still win this trial. For this though, we will need to co-operate with you and you with us-"

"I'll do all I can." Lurline interrupted, somehow managing to remain serene. "I'll tell you what you need-"

"Good." Elphaba nodded. "We will need to know your alibi, then."

"Except for that."

Instantly, every single person's head snapped up, and they all turned to stare at Lurline.

"E-excuse me?" Elphaba asked, losing her composure.

"I can't give you the alibi." Lurline said, still calm and earnest as ever, even as the legal team sitting with her flew into a tizzy.

"Well, if you can't give us the alibi-" Fiyero jumped in. "You should accept a plea bargain. If you plea guilty, then they'll reduce your sentence."

"But if I did," Lurline said smoothly, "Then that would be saying that I did something which I did not do. That would be saying that I _am_ the killer."

"But if you accept the bargain," Sarima tried, "Then you'll only serve a fraction of the time that you would under normal circumstances. Two, three, maybe four years in prison instead of a lifetime spent there. That seems reasonable enough."

"Yet it's not." Lurline insisted. "It's not reasonable at all for me to be in prison while the person who is the _real_ murder walks free."

"And that's why we need the alibi." Kumbricia spoke, leaning over the table so she was closer to Lurline, staring pointedly at her. "So we can set you free."

Lurline just shook her head. Kumbricia was trying to emphasize her point by leaning in, but Lurline threw it right back in her face as _she _leaned in as well, moving closer and closer until their faces were almost touching.

"If you put me on the stand," She murmured to the intern, "Then unfortunately, I will be forced to lie."

Knowing she was beaten, Kumbricia leaned back, simply surveying Lurline under heavy lidded eyes. A half wry, half unimpressed line sat where her mouth should have been, and the rest of them leaned back as well. They had tried to do what the Wizard had asked them , and unfortunately failed. They still had no alibi and no luck with convincing the client to accept a plea bargain. As they brainstormed ways to get her to talk, the minutes ticked by.

Soon, twenty five minutes had already passed, and they still had come up with nothing, Lurline remaining irritatingly calm and tight-lipped. Tired of waiting, the so called 'faerie queen' was about to call the guard when Glinda, silent for the entire visit, finally spoke.

"It doesn't matter if you give us the alibi or not, Lurline. We'll find you innocent. I promise." Glinda told her, smiling. As Lurline looked at her, her brows furrowed. Suddenly her eyes widened, and a smile formed on her lips as well.

"I remember you." The suspect grinned. "You... you took my classes in Gillikin, didn't you?"

While the others stared on in amazement, Glinda nodded enthusiastically, her curls bouncing. "That's right." She affirmed. "I took your magic seminars."

"You created the magical bubble." Lurline went on, cheeks flushing in excitement as she recalled the memory. "The one that was large enough and strong enough for you to fly around in. You're Galinda Upland, right?"

"Correct." Glinda beamed, pleased that Lurline had remembered her name. "Though it's Glinda now."

The two would have gone on, but at that moment, the same guard from before burst in.

"Time is up." He grunted. Walking to the table, he grabbed Lurline's arm and roughly pulled her up and to the door. Over her shoulder, the sorceress called out to her former student, "I'm glad that I can trust _someone_ on the team."

As she left, the smile on Glinda's face stayed. However, it dropped off as someone _else_ stepped into the room.

"I just saw Lurline leave." The Wizard said, shutting the door behind him. "Is our work here all done?"

"You could say that." Elphaba replied, looking tired as she bent over and packed away her notes and everything else she had taken out of her bag.

"I assume you have the alibi then?" The Wizard looked at his assistant expectantly. Slowly, Elphaba straightened up and turned to face the older man.

"Not exactly." She admitted, looking pained. Glinda knew for a fact that Elphaba absolutely despised failing.

Immediately, the Wizard's calm demeanour changed. To others, it would have been imperceptible. However, for the interns and Elphaba, the change was easy to see, thanks to the daily time they spent with him in class. Glinda could practically see Elphaba bracing herself for what was to come.

"So today's trip was fruitless, I see." The Wizard said coolly. Elphaba opened her mouth to respond, but he stopped her.

"Save it."

Elphaba shut her mouth and Glinda could see Elphaba's face darken as she burned with shame.

"I don't want to hear any excuses." Their professor said quietly, his tone more effective than any scream. "Just pack up and go home. We'll meet again in two days."

Immediately, everyone headed to the door, eager to leave the tension of the room behind them. However, when Elphaba and Glinda reached the door, the Wizard spoke again.

"Elphaba, could I talk to you?"

Both women turned back to face the man.

"Privately, please?" He asked, pointedly glancing at Glinda. Silently, the blonde met Elphaba's eyes, and the brunette nodded, mouthing to Glinda to go on. Though unsure, the blonde complied with her wishes and left Elphaba behind.

* * *

"... And then I left, took the train ride home by myself, and came here." Glinda finished. Sitting across from her, Nessarose nodded sympathetically.

"The Wizard works Elphaba too hard, and expects too much of her." Glinda said, sitting back and examining her newly repainted nails.

Once again, Nessa nodded. "It's true." She agreed. "Sometimes I think if she spent half as much time with me as she does with the Wizard, I would never complain again."

"But you _would_ complain, Nessa." Glinda couldn't help but giggle. "You would complain about her not giving you any time alone, and insist for her to go and get _another_ job."

"I guess you're right." The younger Thropp sister couldn't help but laugh as well. The two sat there in the nearly empty salon, laughing, until they were interrupted by the door opening and someone announcing in a loud, clear voice, "Delivery!"

They fell quiet so that the delivery man could speak without raising his voice. Quietly, Glinda and Nessarose set to putting away what materials they had used to paint Glinda's nails with, when suddenly-

"Nessarose Thropp?"

Both women glanced upwards to see the delivery man... and then found themselves looking down instead. There, a man stood, holding a package in front of him so that it covered his face.

"That's me." Nessarose blinked, surprised. From his side, the short man pulled a few sheets of paper and a pen and placed them onto Nessa's work table, putting the box next to the pens and papers.

"Could you sign here, please?"

When no answer was given, Glinda glanced at the younger woman's face. Nessa had fallen silent, staring at something. When the blonde turned to look at what it was that Nessa was fixated with, she saw that it was the delivery man.

His hair was a light blonde, and he had a pleasant smile on his face. He wore the uniform of a delivery boy. It fitted him loosely, giving him the appearance of a teenage boy wearing his father's clothes. His uniform would have looked nicer on him, if only he was a bit taller.

"Miss?" He asked. Nessarose attempted to make a response, but she was unable to say a word. Glancing questioningly at Nessa, the man pushed the papers to Glinda instead.

As Glinda was signing the papers, he glanced down at the package bearing Nessa's name.

"You wouldn't happen to be related to the governor, would you?" He asked the woman in the chair. Still unable to form words, Glinda spoke for Nessa instead.

"She is, actually." The blonde told him. "She is the younger sister of the Thropp third descending; the younger great granddaughter of the governor."

"Really!" The man's smile grew wider and he switched his glance to Nessa's face "I'm a Munchkinlander myself." He said to the silent woman. "My name is Boq, by the way."

"I mean no offense, but I thought Munchkinlanders were...?" Glinda trailed off, looking pointedly at the delivery man. While he was short, much shorter than a normal man, he looked to be taller than the average Munchkin, at least one inch or so above Glinda's short stature.

"My grandfather was from the Emerald City." Boq explained. "He married my grandmother, a Munchkin. My father married a Munchkin as well and settled down in the East. Fortunately, some of my grandfather's good genes passed onto me, explaining why I'm taller than most Munchkins."

"That's very interesting. Isn't it, Nessa?" Glinda nudged Nessa hard, finally stirring the woman out of her daze. Even still, Nessa could only nod and mumble something incoherently.

Passing the now signed papers back to Boq, Glinda sat back. As Boq folded up the papers and placed them back into his pocket, he leaned over closer to Nessarose.

"Have a nice day, miss." He said, tipping his hat to her and finally striding out of the salon.

The moment he walked out, Nessarose slumped back in her seat.

"That was _terrible."_ She groaned, putting her face in her hand. Glinda's suspicions as to why Nessarose had gone silent were confirmed.

"It wasn't _so_ bad, Nessa." Glinda comforted her. When Nessarose peered at Glinda from behind her fingers incredulously, Glinda could only shrug awkwardly.

"It happens to all of us." The blonde reasoned. "Just because you fail once does not mean that you will lose your chance together."

"But Glinda, there _is_ no chance." Nessa cried, throwing her hands in the air before burying her face in her palms once more. "He won't want me." The brunette murmured softly, her voice even further muffled by the hand in front of her face. "No one wants to be with me for who I am. They never see me; all they see is this... this..."

"Blasted _**chair!"**_ Nessa spat, and Glinda could hear the anger and despair in her voice. Her voice softened once more, and the rage turned into sadness as she mumbled almost inaudibly, "He would never notice a girl like me."

Nessa fell silent, and Glinda couldn't help but feel bad for Nessarose. Once again, her handicap kept her from having something that she so desperately wanted. Elphaba could provide Nessa with all the goods in Oz and the world beyond, but she could not give Nessa the kind of romantic attention the wheelchair-bound woman wanted to receive.

However, there _was_ a way that Glinda could. Or at least, a way that Glinda could teach Nessa how to get it.

"But he _will,"_ Nessa. The tiny blonde said. Nessa pulled her hands away from her face and looked questioningly at Glinda, who continued on. "He will, as long as you remember to do this."

"Do what, exactly?"

Instead of answering, Glinda simply grinned. Looking out of the front shop window and seeing someone looking in curiously, Glinda murmured quietly to Nessa, "Just watch."

The blonde stared at the person, still looking inside. Catching their eye, Glinda grinned even wider as they looked back at her. Almost as if time had slowed down, Glinda tossed her head from side to side, letting her hair swish with every toss, before throwing a heated flirty glance at the person, who was now staring at her intensely, eyes wide and slightly dull.

Slowly, they shuffled away from the window, and Glinda stifled a laugh as they nearly walked into the edge of the building then staggered out of sight.

Turning back to Nessa, Glinda saw her younger friend staring at her.

"What was that?" Nessa asked.

"That, Nessa, was a hair toss." Glinda giggled, twirling a lock of hair around her finger, her eyes sparkling as she spoke. "And it's going to be what catches Biq's attention."

"Boq." Nessa corrected, but Glinda paid no attention to her as she sprang up from her chair and stood, facing the handicapped woman.

"Glinda, I don't know about this..." Nessa mumbled, looking unsure as she glanced self-consciously at herself and the near empty surroundings in the room around them.

"Oh please." Glinda waved Nessa's insecurities off. "Nessa, if you learn how to do this, the rewards will be endless. Plus, it's easy- why, just the other day, I taught it to Elphie!"

Hearing that last sentence, Nessa rose a hand to her face and covered her eyes, bowing her head down, muttering something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like 'sweet Oz.'

Disregarding her younger friend's grumbles, Glinda clapped her hands together in excitement, the side of her that truly was the hyper sorority girl everyone believed her to be coming out for the first time in a long time.

Nessa made such a face that it made Glinda laugh out loud- that same expression had been the exact one on Elphaba's face when Glinda had taught it to her, too.

Standing straight up, the student held her own arms straight out to her sides, and then carefully bent over without bending her knees. Arms still straight out, Glinda wiggled her fingers and let the dramatic tension build until she sprang back up.

"Toss,"

She swept half of her blonde locks over one shoulder.

"Toss!"

And then swept the other half with the opposite hand over the other. She struck a suggestive pose, an innocently suggestive look on her face.

"Simple as that!" Glinda told her, dropping her stance. "Now, you try!"

Throwing Glinda a sceptical look, Nessarose tried nonetheless. Though she could not stand like Glinda could, she bent over, hunching over her own lap, her arms held to her sides.

"Toss, toss." She said awkwardly as she sat back up, flicking her hair back over both shoulders. She looked to Glinda for her opinion.

"Not quite." Glinda mused. "You still have to remember to make a face and pose. Like this!"

Glinda demonstrated once again, flashing a smile as she finished off the move. Once again, the Thropp woman tossed her hair, but this time, she pulled it off perfectly, even if her smile was forced.

"Good!" Glinda cheered. "Practice makes perfect, though- the more you do it, the better you become."

"So would it go something like this?" An unfamiliar voice asked. Glinda looked to see who it was. There, in front of the both of them, was another salon worker.

"Toss, toss!" She said, her voice breathy as she threw her hair over each shoulder and smiled seductively.

"Exactly!" Glinda nodded. The woman smiled. Right after, yet another woman came up and demonstrated for Glinda, and after _her_, there was another woman, eager to show Glinda her own version of the hair toss.

Soon, the entire salon was filled with the sounds of people shouting 'toss, toss!' as they expertly flicked their hair over their shoulders, then stared and smiled with come-hither looks on their faces.

"You can even do it without your hands!" Glinda called, performing a no-hands head shake herself as the other women stopped to watch and then cheered, every single one of them smiling and performing their own no hands toss toss.

Practicing tossing her head grew to be so much fun that Glinda couldn't help but laugh happily. Eventually, all of the other women, including Nessarose, joined in with her.

"Enjoying yourself, Nessa?" The blonde woman asked her friend after she performed another perfectly executed hair toss. The brunette smiled shyly at her. "Well, I..."

The words died in Nessa's throat, and the smile fell off her face. The noise inside the Wash and Brush co. had dropped back to a normal level a few moments ago, and because of that, Glinda could hear the soft tinkling of the bell above the salon door, signifying that someone had just entered.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Glinda turned her head to look over her shoulder.

There, striding towards them was the delivery boy, Boq.

"Did I happen to leave my pen here earlier?" The Munchkin asked, glancing curiously at Nessa's work table.

Spotting it beside the bottle of forgotten nail polish, Glinda discreetly picked it up and dropped it into Nessa's hand.

"Do it." She whispered into Nessarose's ear.

Quietly, Nessa inhaled and exhaled deeply. "Y-yes." She stammered to Boq. "I have it right here."

Holding out the pen for Boq to see, she let out a soft 'oh!' as she 'accidentally' dropped it into her lap.

The Munchkin moved closer to try and catch it as it fell through the air, but missed as it hit the fabric of Nessa's dress. A moment later, Nessa hunched over herself to pick it up, and as she sat back up, flicked her hair from side to side letting it fan out dramatically in the air.

Unfortunately, due to Boq being so close, Nessa's hair toss did not go directly as planned. Instead of being able to see the woman's pretty smile, he was blinded as the end of her hair whipped him in the eyes.

"Ah!" He screeched, stumbling back, both hands rising to his eyes as he covered them, doubling over from the stinging pain.

"Are you alright?' Nessarose panicked. She wheeled forward, moving closer to the man in pain. Her only answer was _another_ cry of pain, Boq's voice this time raising to a girlish shriek.

Glancing down, both Nessa and Glinda let out horror-filled gasps. With Boq stumbling around blinded, and Nessa trying to come closer, somehow, Nessa had managed to roll over his foot, and when the disabled woman rolled back immediately after, he flailed, the same foot striking against the hard metal leg of her work table. From the way the distinct 'crack!' had rung around the room, and from the way Boq was now howling about his foot, Glinda assumed that he had broken it.

And as the salon workers huddled around the injured man, and one ran outside to call for a carriage to take Boq to the nearest medical facility, Glinda and Nessa could only breathe one thing simultaneously.

"Sweet Oz."

* * *

So here's the next chapter folks. Just wanted to get it up tonight, since I'll be busy this week and part of next because of exams. However, I'll promise that I'll get the next chapter out as soon as possible.


	12. The Alibi

**The Alibi**

**Disclaimer – I do not own Glinda, Lurline, or any other characters mentioned in this story. I do not own Wicked, nor do I own Legally Blonde.**

* * *

"Hello, sir?"

The guard sitting at the desk looked up from his book as someone called to him. Peering around carefully, he blinked as he saw no one around.

"Sir?"

And there it was again. Pursing his lips, the man's brows drew together in confusion. He looked past his desk, stretching out over the top, sticking his neck and torso out as he surveyed his surroundings a little more vigorously.

However, even with the extra effort, the guard was still baffled as to why he could not locate the person speaking to him. Sitting back in his chair, he scratched his chin thoughtfully, wondering as to why he did not see anybody.

Then again, maybe he was only hearing things. He _was_ getting on in his years, after all; maybe his mind was just playing tricks on him.

But still, why was he almost one hundred percent sure that someone had called him?

The answer came in the form of a tiny blonde woman popping seemingly out of nowhere, nearly giving the guard a heart attack in the process.

"Pardon me, sir." The woman apologized. "I dropped something on the ground and I was just trying to pick it up."

The guard grew annoyed. First, she had made him look foolish, making him lean and crane his neck like some sort of bird and making him think that he was going insane hearing her disembodied voice. Then, she had the nerve to speak to him in such a casual, aloof manner.

He was about to tell the blonde girl off, when she flashed an apologetic smile, genuine contrite appearing in her eyes. The man was stunned momentarily, and within a second, he felt his irritation melt away. How could he be angry with a woman who was so obviously sorry for her mistakes?

"I-it's fine." The man mumbled, suddenly ashamed of himself for almost losing his temper. "You just startled me, was all."

Clearing his throat, he spoke up. "What can I do for you today, ma'am?" He asked, his voice regaining its professional tone.

"I'd like to visit an inmate here." The woman said politely. The guard nodded, picking up a pen and a piece of paper.

"Who would you like to visit today, ma'am?" He questioned, the pen poised in his hand, ready for writing

"I'd like to visit Lurline, please."

"And what, may I ask, is your name?"

The blonde woman flashed another award-winning smile.

"Glinda" She said sweetly. "Glinda Upland.

* * *

"One hour." The guard told Glinda gruffly, shoving her to the door of the same room as before. Glinda thanked the man and stepped inside, her heels clicking on the floors, the sound echoing, magnified, in the silent empty room.

Seating herself on the hard cold chair at the equally hard and equally cold table, Glinda set a bag on the floor by the leg of the table, and waited patiently.

It wouldn't be long now.

Sure enough, only moments after, she heard footsteps coming down the hallway, and a second later, a familiar woman was tossed roughly into the room.

Lurline.

Throwing the guard yet another dirty glance, Lurline's expression brightened when she saw that it was the blonde law student sitting at the table. A smile spread on the Faerie Queen's face, and she moved over to Glinda, a bounce now in her step.

Hugging her pupil momentarily, Lurline then went to the other side of the table, seating herself primly across from the younger woman.

"I'm so glad to see you." The sorceress breathed, her smile only widening as she gazed at her former student.

"How are you doing, Lurline?" Glinda asked, concern shining in her eyes.

The woman sighed and ran a hand tiredly through her curls. "Not so well, I'm afraid." She moaned.

Glinda frowned. The last time they had met, about a week ago or so during the session with the entire legal team, she had not had proper time to look closely at Lurline, too busy with the others in trying to coax her into revealing her alibi.

Now however, without the presence of the other four members and the Wizard not about to swoop in unexpectedly, the student could clearly see the effect prison was having on Lurline.

When Glinda had seen her the year before when she still lived in the Upper Uplands of Gillikin with her sisterhood, Lurline had looked much better back then in the lecture hall, speaking clearly yet softly. Lurline had looked right at home as she performed examples of spells they wanted to learn. With her hair glossy, her eyes sparkling, her lips full and red and her cheeks edged with the pink of a natural blush (not to mention the aura of magic about her) Lurline had looked exactly like the faerie queen she had been titled as.

Now though, while still retaining her natural beauty, Lurline seemed a bit more... ragged. The drab, faded prison uniform did nothing for her figure, her curls were not as perfect as they had been the week before, and there were shadows under her eyes- faint, but still clearly there.

"It's terrible." Lurline buried her face in her hands, peering sadly at the young woman across from her over her fingertips. "I don't want to be in here, Glinda; I could barely stand the two weeks that they've locked me up for. How would I fare if I was in here for two _years, _never mind a lifetime!"

"Not very well, I'm afraid." Glinda winced.

"It's terrible." Lurline repeated. "I'm not even allowed to dress in my own clothes, here. They think that, should I bring any of my own possessions in, I'll be smuggling something inside to help me free myself."

"They already think I will, you see- they believe I'll use magic to break out. They've already gotten extra guards patrolling around my cell and set up what magical barriers they can."

It hurt Glinda to see Lurline in such a depressing state. She was Glinda's idol back when she studied sorcery in Gillikin, and to this day she was still a woman that Glinda looked up to; a beautiful woman with charm, manners, class, status, and complete mastery over magical forces. To see her beaten, depressed, and locked up like a common criminal was horrible.

Trying to remedy the situation (even if it was only temporary) Glinda smiled the best that she could.

"If it helps," She said lightly, picking up the bag she had brought in with her and putting it on the table, "I've brought you some gifts."

Reaching into the bag, Glinda pulled out several different items. "I've brought you some soap and shampoos." She pulled out some of her old, still full, brand name hair care products- she did not use them, now that she was trying to make an effort to use up all of Elphaba's 'gift' before going back to her labels.

"As well as that, I brought books for you to read." Glinda pushed the books to Lurline so that she could take a look at them. Glinda was delighted to see a smile appear on Lurline's tired face as she read the title of one of the books aloud- _The art of spells and sorcery._

"You my dear," Lurline grinned. "Are amazing. Thank you so much for this."

"It's not a problem." Glinda said demurely. "I want you to have the best treatment- if not from the guards or society at the moment, then at least from me. That's why I'm working to get you out, because I want you free and back where you belong with the rest of us."

"Which is more than I can say for your boss, I'm afraid." Lurline replied, the smile dropping form her face.

Glinda laughed at the comment, but she felt odd hearing herself chuckle. The laugh resonated in her ears, sounding hollow, mirthless...

Forced.

"...Lurline?" Glinda spoke up.

"Yes?" The sorceress looked back at Glinda, glancing up from the book she had just opened.

"I have a confession to make." The blonde sighed, biting her lip.

"You see, the real reason I came to visit you today was for the alibi."

Lurline sighed as well, but to Glinda's surprise, did not seem upset or angry. "I figured as much." She mumbled quietly.

"Your alibi would _really_ help our case." The intern reasoned. "If we had it, the charges against you would be dropped faster than a clock tick!"

"Glinda..." All of the light-heartedness in Lurline's words, all of the pleasantness and gentleness faded. Her voice, usually soft and lyrical dropped to a tone that Glinda could only describe as dead serious.

"Glinda, you don't understand. My alibi... if... if I were to tell the court..." Slowly, Lurline began to shake her head, her eyes glazing over. "...I would lose everything."

"It can't be _that_ bad." Glinda tried, but the fellow blonde just shook her head more vigorously.

"Yes it **is**, Glinda." She murmured. "I would win the case, but I would lose the only thing I have left- my pupils in sorcery."

Glinda watched as Lurline's eyes lost their glassy quality, and instead, began to shine with unshed tears.

"I have made a name for myself from sorcery by teaching aspiring spell-casters everywhere how to perform their spells perfectly, and teaching people how to implement these charms into their everyday lives!"

"I know!" Glinda butted in, trying to comfort her anguished mentor. "Before, I could barely levitate a sandwich without having it explode into my face. Now though, thanks to you, I can conjure up my bubble whenever I want and be able to float within it too!"

"And that's wonderful!" Lurline cried. "Yet, if word of _this_ got out, I would never be able to inspire another like I inspired you again."

Glinda felt a wave of sorrow wash through her as she watched Lurline, tears in the usually reserved woman's eyes, on the verge of a breakdown. It was as if the older woman's pain was her own.

So, just like she would wish for someone to do to her if she herself was about to collapse from emotional stress, Glinda reached out and placed her hand comfortingly on top of Lurline's.

"You can tell me anything." Glinda murmured, and Lurline, hearing this, raised her head. She searched Glinda's eyes before letting them fall down again so that she gazed into her lap. Glinda thought that she had lost, that Lurline was going to remain silent, and was about to apologize for making such a brash move until she heard Lurline begin to speak.

"On the day of my husband's murder..." Lurline said quietly, "I was out..."

She mumbled something incoherently, and a crease formed in Glinda's brow.

"Pardon?" The Gillikinese woman asked. Lurline drew in a sharp breath and repeated what she had just said a second time. Still, Glinda did not hear her and asked her to say it again.

Finally, Lurline's eyes snapped up, meeting Glinda's once again. This time, instead of sorrow, there was a crazed frustration in her eyes as she finally, desperately shrieked out-

"I WAS AT THE PHILOSOPHY CLUB!"

There was a pause in the room for a moment after the faerie queen's outburst, as Glinda's mind took a moment to register what the woman had just said. When it did though, Glinda gasped, long and loud.

"**SWEET OZ!"** She screeched.

Finally shedding her tears, Lurline buried her face in her hands once again.

"I know!" She sobbed. "I know!"

"If people knew, I would be _shamed,_ Glinda!"

And for good reason, too- The Philosophy Club was a well-known night club in the Emerald City, both famous and infamous for the activities that were said to happen inside of the club; those activities mainly being sexual extravaganzas. It was said that any shameful act that could ever be thought of was committed there, shamelessly, at least once each night.

"W-w-well, why did you go?" Glinda asked, stammering, a blush rising to her cheeks as her mind involuntarily began to draw up possible explanations, and images to go along with them.

"I didn't _mean_ to." Lurline whimpered. "I was out with some friends, and we became a bit... tipsy, I suppose. Out of curiosity, we went in. When I realized where we were, I left before anything could happen. After making sure my acquaintances got home safely, seeing as I was the best off out of all of us, I went back home... and walked right in to see my husband's dead body."

"Oh my Oz." Glinda whispered faintly. Fumbling for her purse, she pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to Lurline, who she noticed was still crying.

Lurline took it thankfully and wiped her tears away.

"You see?" She sniffled. "That's why I can't tell anyone at all... and neither can you."

Staring at Lurline as she dried her tears, Glinda realized that Lurline trusted her enough to tell her what she had told anyone else, and it touched Glinda.

"Your secret is safe with me." Glinda assured her, and she smiled as Lurline hiccoughed and mumbled a weak and tearful but grateful '_thank you.'_

* * *

Shorter chapter than usual, I know, but it was necessary to split them up. Anyways, I'm done exams, and now that summer is here I'll be sure to try and update faster now. Also, be kind and drop me a review. If it interests you all to know, the more reviews I get, the more tempted I am to go and post the next chapter... which, incidentally, is already typed out and ready to be uploaded.


	13. Legally Blonde & Tattered Frocks

**Legally Blonde & Tattered Frocks**

**Disclaimer – I do not own Glinda, Elphaba, or any other characters mentioned in this story. I do not own Wicked, or Legally Blonde.**

* * *

"Three days."

Those were the first words to come out of the Wizard's mouth at their meeting the next day, and it was enough to make all of the interns and Elphaba glance up from whatever they were doing and look curiously at him.

"It's three days until the trial," The lawyer sighed, lifting his hat from his head and placing it on the table he stood beside. "And the evidence stacked up against us is quite formidable."

"That's not good." Fiyero said dumbly, and The Wizard smiled humourlessly.

"Hit the nail on the head, my boy." He said, his mouth twisting into a thin line. "If only our dear Faerie Queen would co-operate with us, things would be so much easier. But no; apparently, she _wants_ to be found guilty."

Feeling a rare flash of anger rise up inside her, Glinda was about to open her mouth and retort when the Wizard spoke again.

"Speaking of her royal Ozness..." The professor began to pace as he picked up a folder beside his hat, opening it up and reading what was inside. "It seems that yesterday, our client received a visitor from a woman; a Miss Glinda Upland."

The Wizard finally paused in his path and glanced at the blonde, staring intently at her. Seeing everyone's eyes fixate upon her, Glinda nodded.

"I went to visit Lurline." She admitted.

"Why?" The Wizard asked, giving her a scrutinizing stare.

"I went to check up on her, and see how she was doing." Glinda told her boss. "Not to mention get the alibi."

Though he seemed irritated with Glinda's first few responses (and the fact that she had even visited the sorceress in the first place) the Wizard's eyes widened as she mentioned the alibi. Suddenly, everyone was paying very rapt attention to the blonde, eyes curious and disbelieving.

"Did you get it?" Kumbricia asked, her half closed eyes widening as she asked the question.

Glinda nodded again, beaming this time. "I did, actually." She told them. "Its rock solid- there would probably be three, four, maybe five people who could confirm it."

"Well, what is it?" The Wizard leaned over the table, his palms pressing flat down on it as he moved forward, staring Glinda right in the eye. Everyone was eager to hear the information Glinda had- the alibi could be the one thing to make or break their case. Expectantly, they leaned closer, just like the Wizard, to hear the answer.

And, just like the Wizard, they were all stunned as Glinda's bright smile faded as she mumbled to them,

"I can't tell you."

Dead silence fell upon the room. Tension appeared after, and it was so thick that it was almost palpable. Everybody's focus slid back from Glinda to the Wizard. His body never changed; his mouth was still the same thing line made in anticipation, his palms were still pressed flat on the table that he was still hunched over. The difference, however, was not in his major body language, but in the tiny things. They were obvious and dangerous differences to Glinda and the rest of the people in the room, who had learnt how to read the most minute change.

Glinda could see that his jaw had tightened and his fingertips had turned white from the pressure he was placing upon them. Worst of all was the glint in his eye- while before it was glowing with excitement, the glint had turned cold, and just seeing it made Glinda steel herself for the storm ahead.

"Why in Oz _not?"_ The lawyer hissed, his eyes narrowing again, flashing dangerously at Glinda.

"I promised that I would keep Lurline's alibi a secret." Glinda explained, eyes flitting about the room as she saw everyone's incredulous stares.

"I can't believe this." The Wizard spat at her, clearly disgusted. He pushed himself away from the table, standing back up straight. Glaring at Glinda, his eyes then wandered around the table until they landed on a certain green woman.

"Elphaba." He snapped, "Come with me."

Wordlessly, the verdant woman stood and followed him. Not a word came from her lips, but Glinda, as Elphaba's best friend, could see the trouble building underneath her strong facade.

"The rest of you try and talk some sense into her." The Wizard sneered before slamming the door shut, pulling Elphaba into the hall with him. The second the door was closed, Sarima, Fiyero and Kumbricia cornered her, getting up from their seats and circling Glinda's chair.

"Are you _crazy?"_ Kumbricia shouted, her eyes narrowing even further. "Just give him the alibi!"

"We can win without an alibi." Glinda said firmly, standing up, her courage appearing now that the Wizard was not looming over her. "All we have to do is believe that Lurline's innocent. Which, if you think about it, isn't hard at all, because she _is!"_

When all she received was blank, disbelieving stares, the normally cheerful blonde sighed.

"Well, let's put it this way." Glinda tried. "Lurline is a sorceress, and magic causes a sense of euphoria. Euphoric people generally don't tend to kill their husbands!"

Kumbricia snorted and turned away, shrugging her shoulders in a way that clearly stated that she gave up. Sarima simply did not look at her, leaving only Fiyero.

"If you give the Wizard the alibi, Galinda," He said, "He would probably give you a summer job, and make you some sort of associate. I mean, with his power, the clock tick you graduate from Shiz, you would have a job lined up for you and from then on you could practically dance through life!"

"But I gave her my _word, _Fiyero." Glinda stressed her voice unusually low and quiet. The man just shrugged.

"So what?" He laughed. "That's what _I_ would do."

For a moment, Glinda stared at him, wondering to herself how she could have ever dated a man so selfish and untrustworthy. Unbeknownst to them both, Sarima was watching. When Fiyero shrugged, _something_ flickered across her face, but it faded quickly as her mouth set back in a straight line after he spoke again.

"Look, Galinda, just give him the alibi." He finished. "If you don't then we will lose the case."

"Well then I guess we're not very good lawyers." Glinda shrugged, just like Fiyero had only moments earlier, and then went to sit down as she heard the door to the room begin to open. Right before she sat down however, she threw a glance over her shoulder at Fiyero.

"And, just so you know, it's _Glinda_, now." She said coolly, just as the Wizard re-entered with Elphaba in tow.

'_Are you alright?'_ Glinda mouthed to her. If Elphaba had seen it, she made no sign of it. Elphaba simply sat back down in her chair, her body stiff and straight, and her face lacking any sort of emotion.

"Alright everyone," The Wizard said, getting their attention while he had the chance. "It's time to go visit Her Majesty the Faerie Queen. Let's see if we can pry anything else from that pretty little mouth of hers."

With a deep sigh, Glinda stood up from her chair. Brushing the imaginary dirt and dust off herself, Glinda paused, waiting for Elphaba to get up. When the green girl did, the two women silently moved to the door to leave, the others having left before them. Just as she and Elphaba were about to pass through, the Wizard, who had held the door open for everyone, stepped into their path.

"I want you two to stay behind." He said gruffly, not even bothering to try and sugar-coat his words. "I'd rather not see any more glimpses of legally blonde or tattered frocks today."

Face stony, he turned around and walked out, the door slamming shut behind him. The sound echoed in Glinda's head, pounding in her mind, perhaps because the room was completely silent with the tension building once more. Yet this was even worse than before- tension with a roomful of classmates and the Wizard was bad enough, but tension with Elphaba was unbearable. To try and rid herself of it, it was Glinda who spoke first.

"Elphie?"

Glinda cursed the sudden waver in her voice.

Elphaba made no response.

"Elphie, are you...?" She reached out and up to touch the green woman's shoulder, but Elphaba moved away before Glinda's fingertips could even brush the fabric of her beaten jacket. Instead, she stalked over to the work table, and missed the look of hurt on Glinda's face in the process. Grabbing her messenger bag, Elphaba started putting her notes and sheets away, stuffing them into her bag roughly and as fast as she could.

Quick as a flash, Glinda came over next to Elphaba. Before the elder woman could move away again, the student grabbed Elphaba's wrist gently but firmly. The paper Elphaba had just grabbed still dangled loosely from her fingertips as Glinda spoke to her.

"Elphie... please," Glinda's voice, normally filled with happiness, was soft and quiet as she pleaded with her. "Don't be angry with me. I'm sorry, Elphie- you know that I didn't mean to make him angry!"

"I don't need to see your contrition." Elphaba snapped, finally meeting Glinda's eyes with an icy cold glare. "I don't need you to tell me to not be upset with you, and I don't need you telling me you're sorry. All I need is that _alibi."_

"Well, I'm afraid I can't tell you that!" Glinda's guilt and remorse turned into exasperation, and she threw her arms up in the air. "I'll tell you like I told the Wizard: I promised Lurline that I would _not_ tell anyone her alibi, and I will _not!_ We don't need it to win this case, Elphaba!"

"But it would _help_, wouldn't it?" Elphaba thundered, her temper rearing its ugly head and making the cold anger in her eyes burn. "It would help us save Lurline's life, wouldn't it? And isn't this what the alibi is, at this point- something, an excuse, to get Lurline out of this situation and back on track with her normal life!?"

"No it _isn't!"_ Glinda argued, her voice rising. "At this point, the alibi is an excuse that will get you back into the good graces of our 'wonderful' Wizard! It's something that will impress him!"

"He is my _**boss,**_ Glinda!" Elphaba exploded, her voice magnified by the emptiness of the room, becoming almost loud enough to rattle the lone painting that hung on one of the walls. "If I impress him, he could set me in the proper direction of making good by making me an associate!"

"But is it worth it?" Glinda countered. "Is it worth the cost of shattering Lurline's life, both professional and social, and breaking off all of the ties she has left?"

When there was no answer, and the anger in Elphaba's eyes and features began to melt away, softening her fury-sharpened angles and loosening her anger-taut muscles, Glinda knew that for the first time she had won against Elphaba.

It fell silent yet again, and this time, it was Elphaba who broke the quiet.

"The alibi..." Elphaba hesitated. "It's _that_ serious?"

Glinda nodded, relaxing as well, relief washing over her as she realized that Elphaba finally understood.

"Exactly." She nodded. Nudging Elphaba over playfully now that the tension had melted away, the blonde couldn't help but giggle to her green friend, "For someone as smart as you, it took you long enough to realize it."

The blonde found herself giggling again as Elphaba gazed at her, faking hurt. After a moment, Elphaba gave Glinda a rare smile, and Glinda couldn't help but return it.

"When I give my word, it means something, Elphie." Glinda said softly, the content smile still on her face. "And I know that when _you _give_ your _word, it means something too."

Elphaba had no response, but Glinda could have sworn that Elphaba's smile grew larger, if only a little bit.

Hours could have passed by as the two stayed in their comfortable silence. It was only broken when Elphaba quietly suggested that they leave.

Glinda agreed and the two set to collecting their belongings. Glinda was (surprisingly) done before Elphaba, and went over and lent the green woman a hand in putting the rest of her notes (greater in length, size, and number that Glinda's) together and back into her messenger bag.

"There." Glinda grinned as they put the last note into place. Elphaba thanked her and promptly started to close the bag. Glinda, watching her, suddenly put a hand on Elphaba's jacket as she shifted.

"Elphie, you have a hole in your jacket." The younger girl picked at the threads carefully, not wanting to make it even worse. However, as Glinda looked closer and fingered the fabric carefully, she realized that it didn't matter if she made the gap larger or not; the coat was already ripped in several spots and patches that were similarly coloured to the dark blue coat already covering some of the other rips. Even still, the fabric of the jacket was threadbare and whisper thin.

Suddenly, Elphaba tugged her arm back and away from Glinda, dropping her eyes to the ground; it seemed that she would not meet the blonde's eyes once more.

"I can fix it later." She said, and Glinda somehow knew that Elphaba was embarrassed.

In that moment, Glinda made a decision.

"Elphie, do you mind if we took a slight detour before going back home?" Glinda questioned.

Elphaba glanced up from the new tear in the jacket she had been surveying, and arched a brow. "It doesn't matter to me... but where?"

Glinda just smiled.

"You'll see." She sang. Grabbing Elphaba's hand, she tugged the woman along and out of the room.

Elphaba's eyes drifted down to hers and Glinda's joined hands, and then back up to the back of Glinda's head.

She wasn't sure whether to be excited or frightened.


	14. An Assist From Me To Be Who You'll Be

**An Assist From Me to Be Who You'll Be**

**Disclaimer – I do not own Elphaba or Glinda, or anyone else in this story. I do not own Wicked, and I do not own Legally Blonde.**

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* * *

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The train rocked and rolled along the track and on the inside of their booth Elphaba was bracing herself against the wall, sitting with her feet firmly planted on the floor in an effort not to fall over. She watched, amused, as Glinda sat across from her. Unlike Elphaba herself, Glinda had the ability to move along with the train, swaying whenever the train did.

Or maybe it was pure coincidence that Glinda was moving with the train, for the blonde woman was already bouncing in her seat.

"You know," Elphaba said after a particularly rough bounce, "You still haven't told me where we're going."

"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you, would it?" Galinda said airily.

Elphaba arched a brow.

"You never said that it _was_ a surprise, Glinda."

"Hush," The short woman practically wilted. "Mean green thing."

"Why Miss Glinda," Elphaba pressed a hand over her heart, her voice holding a tone of false hurt. "I'm hurt by your words. Ladies from the Upland clan of the Upper Uplands should not be using such mean language."

"Ladies from the Upland clan of the Upper Uplands should not be speaking to mean green things either." Glinda shot back, but Elphaba wasn't offended. She could hear the teasing quality in Glinda's voice, and she could see the play smile playing on the blonde's mouth.

"I think you have beaten me, Miss Upland." Elphaba sighed dramatically, before beginning to laugh, Glinda joining in a moment later.

They spent the rest of their rain ride in laughter, their chuckles echoing around the compartment.

* * *

After they had gotten off the train, Glinda had revealed their location to Elphaba, though there was no need to, for it was obvious to the taller woman exactly where they were; the shimmer and glow of green gave it away.

They were in the Emerald City.

Taking a carriage from the train station to the heart of the city, Glinda and Elphaba were spellbound by what they saw along the way. Glinda was enraptured by the ozmopolitan feel. It was like she was back home again, back near busy cities with hustle and bustle. People decked out in full green passed by, walking to and fro along the sidewalks. Even their driver was wearing green, and his horse was too, if only for a moment; every few seconds the horse would change into a different colour, and it fascinated Glinda.

Yet while the blonde was taken with the people and grandeur, Elphaba was more interested in the history she could see all around her. Huge, majestic buildings that were ancient yet strong. The appeal of the architecture was not lost on Elphaba, and while she liked it, she was sure it would capture Glinda's attention more as the blonde had a surprising love for architecture; if only Glinda wasn't so fixated on the people.

As they went along, the green woman saw countless museums and libraries. Her fingers twitched and her eyes widened in excitement as she thought of the knowledge she could receive from them. Elphaba was sure that it would take her months to visit every museum and library in the city if she chose to go and visit them all.

However, Elphaba knew that she didn't have months in the Emerald City- not yet, at least. She only had one short day, and she knew that since it was Glinda who brought them to the City, the day was going to be spent on something else, something other than a day full of books and ancient artefacts. What that something else was, however, Elphaba did not know.

She still didn't know where they were going or what they were doing in the Emerald city as the carriage ride came to an end. As they hopped off of the carriage and the driver left them, Elphaba saw that they had gotten off in front of a rather modern looking building. The sign that hung above the building itself stated its name in bold letters, but the lettering was so curved and loopy that Elphaba simply could not read it.

It seemed that Glinda could though because when she looked at the sign, a smile spread across her face, and she clapped her hands together with glee like a child.

Glancing between the unreadable sign and Glinda, Elphaba asked the blonde cautiously, "Where are we?"

Glinda did not answer. Taking hold of Elphaba's hand, she led the green girl to the doors of the building before turning to face her.

"Elphie, you trust me right?" Glinda asked, gazing upwards into Elphaba's eyes.

Though she was wary of their surroundings and wondering why Glinda was asking her such a thing in the first place, Elphaba nodded yes.

"Then don't stop now."

Glinda grinned mischievously and pushed the door open. The blonde went in first and then pulled Elphaba in.

When Elphaba got past the door and looked at the scene in front of her, she was nearly blinded by an explosion of colour.

After a moment (spent squinting and muttering about her wounded eyes) Elphaba became accustomed and her annoyance turned into surprise.

"Glinda..." She asked quietly, taking in her surroundings. "What is this place?"

"It's called a boutique, Elphie." Glinda answered, dramatically dropping her voice to the same volume as Elphaba's.

"It's..." Elphaba trailed off and Glinda watched her intently, waiting for her reaction. A moment later, Elphaba seemed to find the words she had been looking for as she turned to Glinda and whispered,

"It's a bit _too_ perky."

Glinda, try as she might, could not stifle the laugh that came out of her throat. Leave it to Elphaba to describe one of the Emerald City's high end boutiques as 'too perky'.

Though Glinda had to admit that from Elphaba's viewpoint at least the store could be seen that way. The walls were lined with shelves with blouses of every sort of rubric. Skirts of varying lengths hung in every corner, and hats sat on boxes that were set all around. Jackets hung on racks nearby, and even shoes were sold there, neatly arranged and put on display for any shopper passing by to simply pick them up and examine them.

Best of all were the wooden dolls, carved into life sized women. Mannequins, Glinda knew they were called. The mannequins were all in the form of women and each one in the store were painted in such a way that both Elphaba and Glinda had trouble telling if they were real people or not. Every wooden model wore a dress and each dress had swirling patterns and tight bodices. Each dress was of a different colour and it seemed as if the entire store had been blessed by a rainbow, for every colour imaginable had to be located in there somewhere.

Finding Elphaba intimidated by such beauty (to Glinda it was beauty anyways) tickled Glinda even more and she couldn't resist the opportunity to tease Elphaba.

"That's what you said about the name 'Elphie' too, Miss Elphaba." Glinda reminded her with a twinkle in her eye. "But you grew fond of _that_, did you not?"

"True, Miss Glinda." Elphaba nodded sagely. "But at least the name 'Elphie' did not look as if a rainbow had thrown up on it."

"Elphaba Thropp!" Glinda gasped, turning on her heel indignantly to look at the taller woman. She swatted Elphaba's shoulder indignantly. "That's not nice!"

"But the truth _always_ hurts." Elphaba smirked, blocking Glinda's attempts to hit her.

"Speaking of hurting, my eyes burn from being in such a colourful place." The green woman sighed, lifting up her glasses to pinch at the bridge of her nose for a moment. When she was done, she glanced down at Glinda curiously.

"Why are we here?"

"We're here because I am absolutely determined to succeed." Glinda said solemnly, the look in her eyes dead serious as she gazed back up at Elphaba.

"Succeed in... what, exactly?"

"In helping you impress the Wizard!" Another smile, sincere and well meaning, broke out on Glinda's face.

"And coming to a boutique helps us _how_?"

Glinda tutted and she looked at Elphaba with pity.

"You have much to learn, Elphie." She sighed, before taking Elphaba's hand in her own once more as she started to lead her around the store.

"Elphie, if you want to _have_ the part, you need to _dress_ the part too!" Glinda explained, pausing to flick expertly through a rack containing only jackets.

"Originally, I was only going to buy you a new jacket, but seeing just what this store has to offer inspired me. We need to find you something new to wear; something that makes you look like a woman who is an associate of one of the best defence attorneys in the Emerald City and beyond."

"You can't judge a book by its cover, Miss Glinda." Elphaba quoted, watching from the side as Glinda started looking through a new rack with vigour.

"Books with ragged covers tend to stay on the shelves, Miss Elphaba." Glinda quipped and Elphaba had to force the smile off of her face.

"Elphie, if this pains you so," Glinda told her as she grabbed several blouses from a neatly stacked pile, "Just think of the Wizard. You might not be able to tell him the alibi, but you _will_ be able to show him and the rest of us a woman who dresses to kill."

"And you just know all about _that_, don't you?" Elphaba mumbled under her breath, but Glinda didn't hear her.

At this point, a woman working at the store had noticed them. Coming up to them she smiled and asked them, "Can I help you with anything today?"

Before Elphaba could refuse, Glinda cut her off with a nod to the saleswoman.

"I'm looking for something for my friend here." Glinda told her. "Something businesslike but still classy and preferably a jacket to match it."

"If you take a look right here, miss..." the woman went into a detailed recommendation of several garments, and Glinda put the blouses down, listening intently. Elphaba hung back from the two, feeling somewhat intimidated by their conversation.

Standing away from them, the green woman observed Glinda from afar. The blonde woman looked like a complete professional with the way she was currently standing. Then again, it would make sense that Glinda would be a shopping veteran. Even if Elphaba didn't know of Glinda's privileged past (which she did) she would still be able to see it in her.

Her stance was not the only thing different, however; Glinda's face was too. Usually set in a blissful, gorgeous smile and matching happy eyes, Glinda's mouth was curled into a thoughtful expression, and her eyes were filled with an intensity that Elphaba had rarely ever seen. As Glinda stared at the clothes that the salesgirl was showing her, Elphaba could see the ideas flashing past her eyes as she regarded each piece.

'_If only she had that same kind of intensity in class, she could be great.'_ Elphaba thought dryly. About to laugh, the chuckle caught in Elphaba's throat as a tiny voice whispered to her '_But she __**does**__ have that kind of intensity, and she __**is**__ great.'_

And suddenly, it occurred to Elphaba that she did not know why she was there in the boutique. She knew why she and Glinda were there, she could have refused to get on the train to the Emerald City with Glinda and headed straight home. Instead, she said yes... like she had all the other times Glinda had asked her for something.

'_Why can I never say no to her?'_

Before Elphaba could even begin to think about the answers to that question, the saleswoman and Glinda turned back to her.

"What do you think of these, Elphie?" Glinda asked, beckoning the green girl to come closer.

The saleswoman stepped forward, offering blouses to Elphaba, the selection made up of both what she and Glinda had recommended.

The first blouse was pale blue. Elphaba simply shook her head. Putting it aside, the salesgirl showed her a different one. Elphaba cringed as she saw it, and then glared at Glinda, who was smothering a giggle, for the shirt was bright pink.

Suppressing a laugh herself, the salesgirl put that blouse aside, and held up the third one. Elphaba's eyes lit up as she saw it- it was simply, plain black. The green woman nodded, and it was handed to Elphaba. She fingered the fabric carefully before Glinda snatched it out of her hands to hold onto it for her.

Dragging Elphaba all around the store, they went through the exact same process over and over again for several articles of clothing. Apparently, they (though Elphaba was not sure when she had given her consent) were not shopping for a dress suit anymore, but either a blouse, jacket and skirt combination, or a dress and jacket, for a more personalized feel.

"There!" Glinda beamed, plucking a last skirt from Elphaba's hands and adding it to the pile of clothes they had chosen.

"And now...?" Elphaba rose an eyebrow at her.

"And now, you try these on."

Steering Elphaba in the direction of the fitting rooms, Glinda nudged her to walk to them, promising she would be right behind her.

Sighing, the green woman took the clothes from Glinda and turned away, walking to the change rooms to change into them. However, as she was nearing the dressing rooms, and she paused, mid-step, as something caught her eye.

Elphaba stared at it, intrigued. Slowly, so that she wouldn't drop her load, Elphaba picked it up and carefully placed it on the bottom of the pile, before continuing on her way until she reached the rooms and locked herself in a stall.

Glinda sat outside, waiting, feeling extremely giddy. If there was one thing that hadn't changed about herself since she started to attend Shiz, it was her love for shopping. It did not matter if she was shopping for herself or for others, it excited Glinda to shop in general.

"How are you doing in there, Elphie?" She asked, raising her voice so that Elphaba could hear her through the door.

"Terribly." Elphaba replied.

"Why is that?" Glinda's brows furrowed, for she thought she had done a good job.

"Because," Elphaba said. "There are too many things to try on."

"Oh just try it on, you wicked green thing!" Glinda huffed, Elphaba's laughter wafting through over the door and teasing her.

A moment later Elphaba tossed some of the clothes over the door, and Glinda, confused went to them and pulled them over to her side so they were not hanging over it anymore.

"What's wrong with these?" Glinda asked, looking curiously at the clothes.

"They don't suit me well." Elphaba explained. "They're too loose."

"Try the other ones then!" Glinda called. Things became silent once again, except for the soft faint sound of rustling fabric.

"Does it fit, Elphie?" Glinda asked her.

"You tell me." Was the response, and then Elphaba stepped out of the dressing room.

She was wearing the black blouse, coupled with a blazer and a skirt. While it looked nice, somehow, it seemed completely wrong on Elphaba.

The verdant woman herself did not seem pleased with her clothes. There was a grimace on her face, and when Elphaba caught sight of Glinda's expression, she nodded, silently agreeing with Glinda's unspoken opinion.

"I'll go and change." Elphaba muttered, turning on her heel and heading back into the change room.

Three more times they went through the same thing, both Elphaba and Glinda finding that the clothes that were chosen did not seem to suit her.

Although it was very out of character for herself, Glinda sighed heavily.

"Is there anything left for you to try on, Elphie?" Desperation could be heard plainly in Glinda's voice.

"There is." Elphaba affirmed. "But... it's something that _I _picked out while you weren't looking."

Intrigued, Glinda told her to try it on. It couldn't hurt to let Elphaba choose- the green girl usually had very good judgement, even though that was not apparent all of the time through her clothing choices.

Yet as Elphaba stepped out of the change room and Glinda caught sight of her at the same time that Elphaba caught sight of herself in the mirror, all Glinda could think was that Elphaba had definitely made a good choice with what she was wearing.

Elphaba had emerged, clad in a dark black dress. It was professional enough that it would pass off as appropriate business clothing, but it had enough class to be able to be used at formal parties as well. Yet it was utterly unique in design- from a distance, it was intimidating, though up close, not so much. However, it seemed like the kind of dress that people would rarely go up to and examine closely. In that same way, it was like its wearer- Elphaba would not let anyone close to her to see _her_ for who she was, unless she allowed them. The entire world was kept an arm's length away.

The dress fit Elphaba perfectly, and it brought Glinda's view of Elphaba into a new light, accentuating the curves that the blonde did not know Elphaba had, for they were always hidden underneath her jackets and loose clothing. It clung to her body perfectly, before flaring out at the waist.

Glinda's eyes trailed up again, from Elphaba's waist to the flat plain of her stomach, past the swell of her bust, along the high buttoned collar by her throat, until she finally reached Elphaba's face.

Elphaba's cheeks were a darker green than normal for some reason, but what caught Glinda was the look in Elphaba's eyes. Normally, they were calm and cool, but now... now, Elphaba's eyes seemed to be vulnerable, and, most surprisingly of all, pleading for acceptance.

"Well?" Elphaba's voice, unusually soft, broke the silence.

Only realizing now that her mouth had fallen slightly open, Glinda closed it and swallowed, clearing her throat, finding herself speechless.

Finally, after another best of strangely tense silence, Glinda met Elphaba's eyes once more.

"Why Miss Elphaba., She murmured. "Look at you; you're beautiful."

If Glinda had not been so in tune with herself in that moment, or if she had not been so in tune with Elphaba, she would have missed the catch in Elphaba's breathing. She would have missed the way her green friend's body seemed to grow a little bit tight with surprise.

She would have missed the almost magical feeling that suddenly filled the air as Glinda kept her eyes locked onto Elphaba's brown ones.

Gazing down at Glinda over the rims of her glasses, Elphaba held Glinda's gaze. Suddenly,, Glinda saw a rare flood of emotion in Elphaba's eyes and the green woman finally tore her gaze away.

"Glinda," She muttered. "Glinda, I can't take this."

"Elphie...?"

"It's too much." Elphaba said quietly. "This dress has to be very expensive. I can't let you buy me this. I know you're offering to pay so I can impress, but I wouldn't be able to pay you back for quite sometimes, even if I worked nonstop-"

"Elphie." Glinda repeated, her voice sharper and louder than before, almost but not quite managing to break the strange atmosphere they were in. "Is this what you think this is?"

The woman turned her gaze back to Glinda, and the blonde could see confusion in Elphaba's eyes.

"Elphie..." Glinda's voice softened. "This is not some sort of trade- you do not have to pay me back. This isn't some sort of donation either, and you are not a charity."

"You are my best friend, Elphaba." The use of her full name signified to the older girl just exactly how serious Glinda was. "This is a gift I want to give to you, because you've done so much for me."

"So take the dress, Elphaba. It's my way of saying thank you." Glinda's lips quirked into a small, shy smile and a tiny voice in Elphaba's head told her that the smile she saw now was more beautiful than any other smile she had seen on Glinda's face before.

"If you say so, Glinda." Elphaba mumbled back.

Glinda nodded, and suddenly they both became acutely aware of how close they were to each other.

They stayed like that for a moment longer before breaking apart, and thereby breaking the surreal yet comfortable mood.

"I'll go and get changed." Elphaba whispered, feeling that keeping it quiet would be best for the next little while. Glinda simply nodded, and wondered exactly what had happened between them as she waited for Elphaba to finish.

* * *

They left the Emerald City soon after buying the dress, and a jacket to match. The train ride back to Shiz was in complete silence – it was not that they had no words to say to each other, but more than they were comfortable enough to remain there without saying a word, just enjoying each other's company.

When they reached town, it was just past sunset, the last sliver of bright light passing by the horizon as they stepped off the train and onto the platform. Noticing this, Elphaba turned to Glinda.

"It's getting late." She said. "I'll go with you to your dorm."

Glinda agreed to the escort, and soon they were in a carriage, riding over to the Shiz dormitories.

Once they were in the building, they headed to Glinda's room. When the tiny blonde had unlocked the door and opened it, Maddie came running, yipping as she saw her owner with the green woman behind her.

"Maddie!" Glinda cooed, bending over and picking up the white dog. Coddling her for a few minutes, Glinda then turned to Elphaba.

"Could you?"

She offered Maddie out to the older woman. "Just hold onto her for a little, I mean. While I go and change."

"...Alright." Elphaba took Maddie from Glinda. As the law student went into her washroom to go and switch her clothing, Elphaba sighed.

"Something's in the air, Maddie." The verdant woman told the dog, scratching her behind the ear gently as she spoke. "I don't know if it was some sort of perfume or scent sprayed there in that boutique, but it's been following your owner and me ever since we stepped into that store."

The dog simply barked and wagged her tail. Chuckling softly, Elphaba placed Maddie back on the floor. So excited to see Elphaba, Maddie began leaping up and running back and forth. Elphaba watched her, taking a seat on Glinda's bed.

"You're such a hyperactive little thing." She observed as Maddie began to run in circles and chase her tail. "Just like your owner."

In response, Maddie barked almost gleefully, and stopped chasing her tail to look at the green girl. However, in stopping so abruptly, Maddie ended up skidding across the floor and hitting the door of Glinda's closet _hard._

Immediately, Elphaba rose to her feet, panicked. Rushing to Maddie's side, she knelt down to see if anything was wrong.

She got her answer when Maddie jumped onto her feet, unfazed, and tried to lick Elphaba's face.

"Crazy dog." Elphaba muttered, shying away from Maddie's tongue. Glancing at the door to the washroom, Elphaba couldn't help but smirk and whisper conspiratorially to Maddie, "But that's just like your owner _too."_

The smirk on her face faded when Elphaba heard a loud **thud** come from the closet.

As if on cue, Glinda exited her bathroom (fully changed out of her business suit and in more casual clothes) and went over to Elphaba.

"Are you alright?" Glinda asked her. "I thought I heard a noise."

"I think something fell in your closet." Elphaba replied, not bothering to explain exactly how things had managed to fall in the first place.

Nudging Elphaba over, Glinda opened up the closet. Lo and behold, a box had fallen from the rack above that supported many other boxes. It had opened during the fall, spilling its contents across the floor; the contents being a single, pointed black hat.

"Oh dear." Glinda sighed. Picking up the hat and then the box, she looked at Elphaba.

"Could you help me?" She asked. Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment as she went on to say while holding out the box and hat to the taller woman, "I... can't exactly reach the top."

Elphaba didn't take either of the items, however. She simply stared at the hat.

"It's not really... my style." Glinda chose her last two words carefully. Seeing how Elphaba was looking at it though, made Glinda drop the box and offer only the hat out to Elphaba. "Try it on?"

"Glinda, I don't know-"

"It's really, uh... sharp, don't you think?" Glinda tried. "Did you know black is this year's pink?"

When Elphaba did not even crack a smile at Glinda's rhyme, but just raised an eyebrow at her, Glinda huffed. "Oh, just try it on!"

Biting her lip to hold back a snicker, Elphaba took the hat and plopped it onto her head.

Glinda had gotten the hat as a going-to-Shiz present from her batty old aunt. Not wanting to hurt her aunt's feelings, Glinda had accepted the gift with a smile and told her she would bring it to Shiz with her. The hat must have somehow gotten mixed in with her belongings, for she honestly never meant to bring it. In Glinda's opinion, it was a dreadful, horrible hat.

Yet, the second it touched Elphaba's head and the green woman ran her fingers along the wide brim, Glinda couldn't help but notice that it looked perfect on her.

"Take the hat, Elphie!" Glinda said to her, grinning. "It looks so good on you!"

"Glinda, no." Elphaba took the hat off and roughly shoved it into the small blonde's hands.

"Why not?" Glinda pouted.

"I... I can't accept this." Elphaba told her quietly, looking away. "You've already given me so many gifts today, and now the hat on top of it all? I don't think-"

"Elphaba, _hush."_ Glinda interrupted her sternly.

Surprisingly, Elphaba listened.

"I told you earlier at the store that the dress and the jacket and everything else were gifts. They're gifts because you've done so much for me..."

Glinda trailed off into her thoughts. Her own words, '_You've done so much for me' _echoed in her mind as she thought back to the many deeds Elphaba had indeed done for her.

And suddenly, it hit her.

"You've done so much for me," Glinda repeated softly. "That this cannot even be considered a gift anymore."

Boldly, Glinda stretched the arm not holding the hat out and caught Elphaba's chin, forcing the green woman to look her in the eyes as she said to her softly:

"This is my payment to you in kindness."

"You were the first person, Elphie," Glinda said to her. "To ever see past all of my pink and popularity and blonde to the person inside of me struggling to get out and show the world how smart I was. You were the first to realize even before _I _did that there was more to me than material wants and needs that I didn't have to rely on social influence and beauty to get me through life, but on intelligence and values instead."

"I don't think I could ever thank you enough." Glinda finished. "But giving you these things is all I really _can_ do. So please, take it."

Glinda held out the hat once again, and after a pause, Elphaba took it from her. She rose the hat up and placed it on her head, blinking as she looked from underneath the brim at Glinda.

Suddenly, Glinda could not resist it.

Taking a step forward, Glinda wrapped her arms around Elphaba and pulled her into a tight hug.

Glinda felt hands that had previously remained motionless sweep across her back. She felt the heat of the palms lingering, first above her shoulders, then by her waist, and then finally settling on her lower back. Slowly, but not hesitantly, Glinda felt arms wrap around her and hold on tight.

"You're welcome." Elphaba whispered into Glinda's ear as the green woman hugged Glinda back for the first time.


	15. Revelations

**Revelations**

Disclaimer – I do not own Elphaba, Glinda, the Wizard, Lurline, or anyone else mentioned in this story. I do not own Wicked, and I do not own Legally Blonde.

* * *

The sun was out, bright and shining. It illuminated everything with its glow, radiating warmth. To most people, it would have been a great start to a great day.

However, Glinda Upland and various others did not fit into the category of 'most people'.

It was the day of the trial, and it felt as if there were swarms of butterflies in Glinda's stomach, fluttering around inside of her, causing her to squirm uncomfortably. She was nervous, there was no denying it- her palms were sweating, and her mouth was dry.

'_You have nothing to be worried about!" _Glinda's mind admonished. '_It's not you who is being tried, it's Lurline!'_

"But I _want_ her to be declared innocent." Glinda whispered.

"Pardon me?"

Glinda blushed as she remembered that she was not alone.

"Nothing, Elphie." She said to her companion. "Nothing at all."

Elphaba stared at her. Before, Glinda would have been uncomfortable with being looked at with such scrutiny, but she had grown used to Elphaba's intense gazes. Instead of asking her to stop, Glinda simply gazed right back at her, straight in the eyes. "What is it, Elphie?"

"You're nervous, aren't you?" Elphaba asked.

Glinda stiffened up. She cursed herself inwardly; was her nervousness really that easy to see? Personally, Glinda thought that she had hid it rather well from the public eye. Then again, it _was_ Elphaba, and almost nothing got past her.

But instead of answering the question, Glinda avoided it, choosing to look at Elphaba directly in the eye again and deflect the question back at her.

"Aren't you?"

Just like Glinda, Elphaba did not respond to the question, her mouth remaining tightly shut. Still, Glinda knew the answer, and it was yes.

Glinda had asked before if Elphaba had ever been involved with a case, and Elphaba had told her yes. However, Elphaba had also told her that she has not been involved as the Wizard's co-counsel before, and never had she been involved with a trial as big as Lurline's. It was pretty much a given that Elphaba would be nervous.

Not to mention that Elphaba wasn't looking so well, not after Glinda had asked her her own question. She looked pale, in a way. Her skin had turned a shade lighter, making her turn a pasty green. She seemed frazzled, and visibly showed it; her hands were constantly moving, for where one was nervously clutched around the handle of a briefcase (which she had replaced her favoured messenger bag for) the other hand was atop of that hand. Around the handle of the suitcase, Elphaba kept on wringing them together, and Glinda suddenly felt bad for both herself and for Elphaba for even asking the question in the first place.

Just as she was about to apologize, the carriage stopped, and when it stopped, so did Elphaba's strange nervous behaviour. Stepping out of the carriage, she helped Glinda come down, and then paid the driver his fee.

The blonde would have offered to pay half, but she didn't- not because she was unwilling or lacked the money. Rather, she was too preoccupied staring at the building they were in front of.

It was huge, looming above Glinda, making her feel smaller than she already was. The architecture was wonderful (Glinda had always had a soft spot for architecture) and there was just a feeling of importance exuding from the building. No wonder- the fate of people's lives was decided within. Knowing that she herself was about to help decide if a woman would be declared innocent or guilty made Glinda feel important as well, but it also served to make the bubbling feeling of nervousness in her stomach even worse.

"Glinda."

Elphaba's voice broke Glinda out of her trance. The blonde turned to the green woman to see her with her jaw set and tight, looking up at the great building before them as well.

"Let's go." Without looking at Glinda, perhaps to maintain her focus, Elphaba marched up the steps and to the front doors.

Glinda, standing behind her, didn't move immediately. Instead, she took two long deep breaths. Exhaling, she allowed herself one last upward glance of the building as a whole, before hurrying after her green companion.

Once they were inside, they began to walk around. After learning which courtroom Lurline's trial would be held in, they wandered around the building until they found it. The doors were huge, made of thick and heavy varnished quoxwood. People were constantly going into the room, but as of yet, no one had come out. It reminded Glinda of some deadly inescapable trap, and it heightened her anxiety even more.

Once again, she tried to take deep breaths to calm herself. When her nervousness had quelled somewhat, Glinda turned to Elphaba.

"Elphie," She murmured, "Elphie, are you ready?"

The ending of that question Glinda had left open, but both she and Elphaba knew _exactly_ what she was asking: _Are you ready for the trial? Are you ready to go in? _

_Are you ready to swallow your fears and help save a woman's life?_

Slowly, Elphaba turned to face Glinda. Staring down at her, Elphaba nodded.

"Ready as I'll ever be, Glinda." She said. Her voice was strong and her eyes were filled filled with determination and ferocity.

Inspired by the drive she could see in Elphaba, Glinda stood straighter, making herself as tall as possible. Together, she and Elphaba pushed open the doors and walked in tandem to the side of the courtroom where the Wizard and the other interns were waiting.

At first, none of them paid attention to Elphaba and Glinda's arrival. In fact, it seemed they hadn't noticed the duo had even arrived in the first place. It was only when Elphaba's chair screeched as she dragged it out from the table to take her seat did the Wizard even look up from his notes.

When he did, Glinda swore she saw his eyes bulge.

"Sweet Oz Elphaba, is that _you?"_

_That _caught everyone's attention. Glancing upwards from what they were doing, they all froze, eyes glued to the green woman.

Elphaba was wearing her new dress, the one she and Elphaba had gone to the Emerald City to buy. Usually, a dress would have seemed out of place in a sea of dress suits and ties, but the dress that they had chosen was not only classy enough for parties, but professional enough to pass off as normal in the courtroom.

She was not wearing her hat, but she wasn't wearing her favourite blue knit cap either. Elphaba's head was free of any covering other than her hair whatsoever, but even _that_ was different. Instead of having her hair in its normal thick braid, it was instead twisted into a no-nonsense but elegant bun.

Gone were the threadbare, ragged clothes and the air of scruffiness they gave Elphaba, replaced with clothing that made Elphaba look every bit like the serious lawyer she truly was.

Elphaba stiffened up as they stared, and Glinda realized why; the green girl was used to being stared at, but not in a positive way, meaning she was assuming the worst- that her fellow lawyers (and lawyers in training) were judging her negatively. Refusing to look at them, Elphaba dropped her briefcase on the table with a purposely heavy _'thud'_ and began to unlatch it. Before Glinda could pull Elphaba to the side to speak privately to her, Sarima opened her mouth.

"Elphaba," She started.

Glinda, used to hearing harsh comments from the woman, prepared herself to interrupt Sarima if she became mean. Elphaba did not deserve any grief, not after it seemed that for once she was feeling good about herself.

Glinda was in for a surprise however when Sarima did not insult Elphaba, but instead, smiled vaguely at her. "You look very professional today."

"Very sharp." Kumbricia added in, nodding her approval.

"I'd have to agree with these two." The Wizard smiled at his assistant.

Elphaba's fingers froze on the latches of her briefcase. As their words sunk in, she turned to look at them all. Seeing no contempt, no deceit in their eyes and hearing no barely held back sniggers, Elphaba then turned back to her briefcase. Glinda could see that she was stunned, and she giggled as she saw that the older woman was also a bit embarrassed, clearly not used to such attention.

"I-it's nothing." She stammered. "Glinda brought me shopping with her."

"Job well done then, Miss Upland." The Wizard clapped a friendly hand on Glinda's shoulder, and a pleased grin spread on the young blonde's face, matching Elphaba's.

More would have been said, had it not fallen silent in the courtroom as the judge that was to preside at the trial made her entrance.

She looked stern and severe, and the black robes that engulfed her body made her intimidating. Glinda wished that the judge was wearing normal clothing, or at least something in a lighter colour- the judge's garments were making her even more nervous than she already was.

'_But maybe that's what they want.'_ Glinda thought to herself. _'Maybe the judges dress like that to scare people into admitting what they've done.'_

Glinda had to stifle a laugh as the judge took her seat and settled down before clearing her throat and calling out in a loud, commanding voice-

"Bailiff! Bring in the defendant!

The bailiff did as he was told, disappearing into a room connected to the courtroom. A minute later he returned, this time with Lurline and another man helping him.

Even though she was being escorted to her seat by the bailiff and a burly guard, Glinda had to say that Lurline looked much better than she had during the last couple of weeks. Though the bags under her eyes were a little darker and more pronounced, she didn't look as weathered as before. Her hair was once again perfect and glossy, and she was dressed not in the ugly prison uniform but in dark coloured, classy clothing. As she sat down, Glinda looked at her and was delighted to see a tiny (if anxious) smile appear on Lurline's face as the sorceress glanced back at her.

"Court is now in session." Someone announced.

"The prosecution is ready, Your Honour." A cocky looking woman sitting on the opposite side of the room from Glinda and the rest of the legal team said to the judge.

"The defence is ready as well, Your Honour." The Wizard said as the judge looked at him. Gazing at her professor, Glinda saw an intensely grave look in his eyes. Never having before seen such a look on the Wizard's face it scared Glinda a tiny bit.

"As you know," The judge spoke, "Today's trial is a very important one. Many eyes are on us today as we carry out this trial. While I can say that we may not reach the verdict immediately, I would prefer that we make it through this trial as best as we can. Is this clear?"

Hearing the judge's statement, Glinda was confused. What exactly did she mean by many eyes?

It was then that Glinda heard the sound of something behind her. It was scratchy and fast and the blonde recognized it as the sound of writing. Discreetly glancing behind herself, she saw someone scribbling all over a notepad. Suddenly, Glinda remembered Lurline's fame; having spent time with her, the blonde woman had forgotten that Lurline was often seen in the public eye. The media would be crawling all over the trial, recording every word said, just like the man behind her was doing at the moment. Glinda felt silly to have forgotten such an important detail.

Yet there was no time to feel silly as the Wizard and the woman both nodded, satisfying the judge who then asked for the prosecution's opening statement.

Promptly the prosecutor stood. Clearing her throat, she began to speak.

"Today's trial," She began, "Is a murder trial. Almost one month ago a man was shot, left to die in his own estate. The accused killer, Lurline, stands here today. She was the victim's wife, and she is who we believe killed this innocent man. Today, we plan to serve justice to the murderer, and hope that you-"

She looked to the jury and judge briefly but pointedly.

"-Make the right decisions in deciding if the defendant is the guilty party or not."

The prosecutor sat down as the judge nodded yet again. Slyly, she threw a smirk at the Wizard, who just ignored her, keeping his eyes trained on the judge. After a moment, the prosecution stood once again.

"The prosecution would like to call our first witness, Your Honour." She told the judge.

Glinda's brows rose in surprise. _'A witness?' _She thought to herself. '_So soon?'_

Then again, the judge had, indirectly, asked for a swift trial. It only made sense to call up a witness early.

'_That'_ Glinda thought, '_Or she's confident about the witness. It would explain her attitude.'_

Nevertheless, Glinda once again had no time to ponder the prosecution's reasons when the judge called out again.

"Bailiff!" She barked. "Please bring in the witness."

The bailiff nodded and disappeared into yet another attached room. When he came back, he was leading someone into the room, a young man this time.

He was youthful and handsome, and there was a smile on his face as he entered the room, as though he were attending a party instead of a murder trial. Tilting her head, Glinda stared quizzically at him as he took his seat in the witness' stand. Suddenly, Glinda caught sight of movement in the corner of her eye. Turning to look there instead, the socialite saw that it was Lurline.

When the young man had come into the room, she had flinched, and thought it was very quiet, Glinda swore she heard her magical mentor mumble "What's he doing here?" under her breath. Immediately, Glinda felt sick, tasting bile in the back of her throat. The friendly young man didn't look so friendly anymore.

In fact, he looked like trouble.

"State your name." The judge instructed him.

"My name is Crope." The man beamed.

The judge glanced down at Crope in the stand. "Your last name as well, sir."

"Only Crope." Crope told the judge, peering up at her. "I've long renounced my last name, due to certain issues with my family."

The judge gave Crope a strange, long look, but accepted the answer. She nodded at the prosecution's side, and the prosecutor stood from her desk.

"Now Crope," She started, "What exactly is your profession?"

"I'm a personal servant." He responded. "A butler, if you will."

"And your duties as a butler included...?"

Crope examined the nails on his left hand as he spoke, a hint of pride in his voice. "I oversee all the other servant's duties, making sure they're doing their jobs right. My employers put much trust in me."

"And who exactly are your employers, sir?"

Crope looked away from his hand, but still held it up. He held his hand even higher as he outstretched it, and then closed his hand tightly. Lazily, he unfurled his index finger from his fist and pointed it out, straight at Lurline.

There was a quiet murmur from the jury and spectators.

"So you mean to say," The prosecutor feigned innocence poorly. "That Lurline was your employer?"

"Lurline, her late husband, and her stepdaughter were my employers." Crope affirmed. Glancing at Lurline's puzzled face, he waggled his fingers at her in hello.

"Tell me sir," The prosecutor (who had been pacing around the floor in front of the witness stand) walked up to Crope, and leaned forward to look him in the eye. "Did you have any other duties besides overseeing your fellow workers?"

"I did whatever my employers wished for me to do."

The sick feeling Glinda had intensified with that response.

"And that includes what the defendant wanted, right?"

Crope nodded yes, and the prosecutor nodded as well.

The prosecutor's voice was dangerously casual. Examining her own nails, she asked Crope,

"So, if Lurline were to ask you for, say... sexual favours and relations, you would be obliged to do as she asked, correct?"

"I would." Crope replied.

"And did she?"

A mischievous, sly smirk appeared on Crope's face, and Glinda's blood froze in her veins as he answered.

"She did. For you see Lurline and I..."

He paused dramatically for effect, bringing everyone to the edge of their seats. Glinda, however, did not move. She sat back and watched, and her heart dropped as she saw a sudden glint in his eyes as he finally went on.

"We're lovers."

There was another, louder gasp, and the court descended into chaos. Whispers, murmurs, some full out yells filled the room, and Glinda heard the man behind her writing faster than ever. In front of her, Glinda saw Elphaba and the Wizard's heads snapping to the side as they stared at Lurline, and beside her, in her peripheral vision, Glinda saw Sarima, Fiyero, and Kumbricia turn to look too. Everyone's faces were shocked, including Lurline's.

"Order, order!" The judge bellowed, picking up her gavel and slamming it repeatedly. When nothing happened and the noise level in the courtroom stayed the same, she yelled over the sound.

"Court is adjourned for a brief recess, and we will reconvene in fifteen minutes!"

With one last slam of her gavel, the judge sat back down, and many of the onlookers started to file out, leaving to do what they had to before court started again.

The first thing the Wizard did, once the room was near empty, was turn to Lurline and hiss at her, "He was your _lover!?"_

"No!" Lurline cried indignantly, offended by the very words that had come out of her attorney's mouth.

"Crope was not my lover! I only modelled certain dresses and outfits for him once or twice and asked him for his opinion, because he has _such_ great fashion sense. Some might've been a tad more revealing, yes, but-"

"This is absolutely _unbelievable._" The Wizard snarled, running a hand through his hair angrily. "I'm beginning to look like an idiot."

"While it's very troublesome," Elphaba admitted, trying to cool her boss down, "We can get past it. It's a setback we'll just have to work through."

"No, Elphaba." The Wizard sighed wearily, turning to his assistant. "It's not just a setback."

"It's motive."

* * *

Glinda groaned as she stepped out of the courtroom. What with Crope's tales of his and Lurline's 'affair' and the Wizard angry and snapping at anything that moved, she needed to get out of there for the sake of her own sanity.

Glinda groaned again as she shook her head. She had gotten out of the courtroom to relax, not work herself up even more by thinking about what was wrong. That and she needed to refresh herself. The trial had put Glinda on edge, making her mouth and throat dry, and she needed something to drink immediately.

Spotting a water fountain attached to a nearby wall, Glinda sighed in relief. Ironically enough, the moment she took a step toward it, a group of people congregated around it, a line forming up immediately.

Glinda resisted the urge to slap herself in the face with her palm.

It figured this would happen.

Slowly, she trudged to the back of the line. Peeking around the person in front of her (because they were much too tall for Glinda to even look over their shoulders) the water fountain looked miles away from where she was standing. To make matters worse, her mouth was beginning to feel drier and drier with each passing second, and her throat more like sandpaper.

To try and take her mind off of her thirst, Glinda delved back into her thoughts.

Whole-heartedly, Glinda believed in what Lurline said. If she said she never had an affair with Crope, then she never had an affair with Crope. However, not everyone believed that as Glinda did; she could see the doubt lingering in even the Wizard's eyes, and it annoyed Glinda to no end. Did he not put _any_ faith into his clients?

And then there was the matter of Crope himself. It was clear to some people as to why Lurline would want to have sexual relations with him, and due to that, it was set in stone in their minds that the master sorceress did in fact have said relations with him. But, for Glinda, she just didn't see it. Crope had looks, charm, and a pleasant personality (so far as she had seen) but at the same time, there was just _something_ about him that didn't strike him as the type to be involved in an affair of _any_ sort.

So lost in her thoughts, Glinda did not notice the line in front of her shortening and shrinking, until the person ahead of her took their drink and left. Snapping back to attention, Glinda saw she was still where she had last been. Seeing the line now gone, she took one step forward to the fountain...

Only to have a man with dark hair and classy clothes, who Glinda recognized as Crope, cut ahead of her and take a drink from the fountain.

Glinda gritted her teeth together and huffed, upset that Crope had budded. Even worse, he seemed to be taking his sweet time, lapping up the cool water without a care in the world, and certainly not a concern for the irate woman standing behind him.

Impatiently, Glinda sighed loudly. She began to tap her foot against the floor, letting Crope know he was being waited on by an irritated woman. After a moment of tapping, it seemed that Glinda's message had gone through, for Crope stopped drinking and the fountain shut off.

Glinda did not expect Crope to slowly turn around, and look down on her.

"Excuse me, miss." His voice was dangerously sweet, like honey laced with poison. "But I'd rather prefer it if you not stomp your **last-season**_, _designer Gillikin leather shoes at _**me**_**, **thank you very much."

Crope strode off immediately, and Glinda stared after him, appalled by his rudeness. However, she couldn't help but glance down at her heels self-consciously.

"These aren't last season." She mumbled, seeing the polished black leather shine. "Not yet."

Then, it hit her.

Glinda gasped, long and loud. She gasped so loud that the passers-by stared at her with wide eyes and concerned, wondering looks on their faces.

But the blonde didn't care. She didn't care about _anything_ other than her sudden revelation.

Ignoring her thirst, ignoring the looks, ignoring the yelps of pain from other as she pushed them aside, Glinda tore off at high speed back into the courtroom. Everyone's heads (at least, the people on Lurline's defence) were close together as they stood just as close to each other, speaking quietly, but Glinda broke up their discussion and forced them all apart.

"Everyone," Glinda gasped breathlessly, "Crope is _lying_. He didn't have an affair with Lurline!"

"How do you know?" The Wizard gaped, shocked and intrigued by her statement.

"Simple!" Glinda smiled.

"I know because he's quite obviously not into the opposite gender!"

* * *

It's been a while since I've uploaded a new chapter, hasn't it? I'm sorry about that. I was going to get this typed and out during August, but then I went on a trip to California (where I went to see Kendra as Glinda, but thats a different story) and I couldn't get it out. Then, of course, even before that, I had writers block. but here it is now, others are ready and waiting to go, and I hope you enjoyed this.

Also, I just want to apologize if there is anything you see that is wrong with court sessions. I know the basics of court, each side, what they do, etc. What I write is based on a micture of the court sessions from the movie, from the musical, and from my own knowledge of trials.


	16. Dance the Fandango

**Dance the Fandango**

Disclaimer – I do not own Glinda, Elphaba, nor anyone else mentioned in this story. I do not own Wicked, nor do I own Legally Blonde.

* * *

'_I know because he's quite obviously not into the opposite gender!'_

* * *

It was dead silent after Glinda had spoken. The court room was nearly empty, and somehow, it felt even emptier with the lack of chatter. However, the lack of chatter could not be helped, for no one knew exactly what to say.

Surprisingly, it was Fiyero who found the perfect words and managed to voice everyone's jumbled thoughts.

"You think he's _**WHAT!?"**_

"Quiet!" The Wizard hissed at the younger man, the second one to come back to his senses. Discreetly, the teacher took a quick look around the courtroom and breathed a sigh of relief as he saw neither the prosecutor, nor Crope, nor the judge was there.

Turning back to Glinda, he asked her "How do you know?"

"He knew my shoes." Glinda told him, her eyes shining with excitement. "Men who _are_ attracted to women don't even bother to try. For example sir..."The blonde turned to her former boyfriend.

"Fiyero," She asked sweetly. "What kind of shoes am I wearing?"

"Um..." Fiyero glanced down at her feet, and stared for a few minutes. As he looked back at Glinda's face, he smiled sheepishly. "Nice ones?"

Grinning triumphantly, Glinda smiled at the Wizard. "You see?" She said. "Fiyero didn't know. Crope took a single look at my shows for not even half as long as Fiyero did, and he knew they were designer Gillikin leather."

Pleased with her explanation, Glinda was surprised to see the hopeful look on the Wizard's look fade to be replaced with frustration.

"Miss Upland..." He pinched the bridge of his nose stressfully, and pushed his glasses back up to their proper place. "You _cannot_ base your explanation on simply shoes."

"What shoes?"

At that moment, Lurline had been brought back to them by a guard. Sitting down at the table, she looked at the members of the legal team.

"Glinda says that Crope prefers the company of other gentlemen, based upon Crope knowing the shoes that she's wearing." Kumbricia informed the older blonde. Lurline's eyes brightened up at this information.

"That makes plenty of sense." She mused. "Crope _did_ tell me once that his dream was to be abducted by desert pirates and be made to dance the fandango for them."

"I can't _believe_ all of you!" The Wizard somehow managed to thunder in but a whisper. "What proof do we have of this? Nothing! If we press him and accuse him of this and we turn out to be wrong, we look not only unprofessional but homophobic and prejudiced as well!"

"But sir!" Glinda whispered fiercely, "It's so obvious! Look at him!"

Glinda gestured to Crope, who had just sauntered into the courtroom. Before sitting down at the witnesses stand, he stopped to primp himself.

"His skin, his physique..." Glinda pointed to Crope as discreetly as she could. "They all scream that he's-"

"- A man who knows how to take care of himself!" The Wizard interrupted her flatly. "I've heard he's from the Emerald City and its practice for a man there to be well groomed."

"Its practice _everywhere_ for a man to be well groomed, sir." Glinda countered. "But there's something about him that goes beyond being well groomed, something about him hinting that he is the type of man who would be attracted to other men!"

Elphaba, who had been very quiet, piped up all of a sudden. "Now, I'm not one for stereotyping and all, but... look at his hair."

All of them turned to peek at Crope. He seemed to be staring at himself in the highly polished wood of the judge's stand. Gazing at his reflection, he ran his fingers through his hair slowly and carefully, seemingly trying to slick it all back with simply his fingers. Once he had done that, he winked at himself and smoothed his hair down, leaving no lock out of place.

"And his socks." Glinda pointed at his foot, and their gazes slid down to where Glinda was pointing. Crope's foot was sticking out from behind the witness' stand, his foot at such an angle that the leg of his trousers rose up slightly, exposing an inch above his shoe. There, they saw that his socks were not made of cotton or wool or any other fabric, but rich, smooth silk.

"He simply knows how to dress." Sarima tried to defend him, taking the Wizard's side. "He knows what to wear and how to look good. It doesn't mean that he's not attracted to women."

"He's just a man who tries to look good to catch people's attention."

Eyes turned to Kumbricia, and all were somewhat surprised to see the woman's dark eyes practically crackling with fire and fury.

"He's a jerk." She growled the sound low in her throat. "Look at him- he's a chauvinistic, well dressed idiot. He's _teasing _us!"

Wondering why Kumbricia was suddenly so angry, Glinda did what she had been instructed to do and saw that a smirk had formed on Crope's face. He wiggled his fingers in hello at her, before directing his gaze elsewhere and dropping his hand. However, for a split second, Glinda couldn't help but notice that the witness seemed to be looking not at Kumbricia, but past her instead, possibly over her, to a person who was somewhere behind her.

"Yes, but even well dressed men don't wear shoes with pointed toes." Lurline pointed out, drawing everybody's attention to Crope's shoes, which the man was polishing at that very moment.

"There are just so many shades of gray when it comes to this!" Glinda huffed. Right after she spoke, the rest of the people involved with the trial in a way (whether they were part of the jury, the media, or those who came to watch court proceedings) filed in and the judge reappeared and took her seat as well.

After recounting Crope's testimony and adding it to a short summary of what had happened during the trial so far, the judge looked down on the Wizard from her seat.

"The defence may cross-examine the witness." She said to him, and the Wizard stood. He began to walk slowly toward Crope at the witness' stand, never breaking eye contact.

"What proof of this alleged affair with Lurline do you have, sir?" The Wizard asked Crope.

"Only the love in my heart, Mister Attorney." Crope replied, placing a hand onto his chest over his heart for emphasis. While some women and people of the court simpered at this romantic gesture, the Wizard was not impressed.

"Right." The Wizard nodded slowly. A condescending smile appeared on his face as he spoke again. "Unfortunately, the 'love in your heart' might not sit well with these fine ladies and gentlemen here today."

The Wizard turned to judge, still smiling. "Your honour," He said, "If that is all the proof the witness has of his affair with my client, there is nothing left for me to ask him."

The Wizard turned on his heel and headed back to his table. As he was about to take his seat, Elphaba stood up, and Glinda saw the surprise that flashed across her teacher's face.

"What are you doing?" The Wizard hissed to his assistant, irritation in his voice.

"Give me a chance, sir. I know what I'm doing." Elphaba pleaded.

Glinda's brows flew upwards at Elphaba's words. The Wizard's eyebrows flew upwards as well, but he did not argue. Instead, he stepped aside and let Elphaba walk up to the floor between the defence and prosecution's desks to the judge's and witness' stand. As she walked up, she threw a quick glance behind her and caught sight of Glinda's bemused stare.

'_Don't worry.'_ She mouthed to the blonde. Glinda swallowed and nodded, relaxing back into her seat. She knew Elphaba had a plan.

"If you wouldn't mind, Your Honour, I'd like to ask the witness a few questions. Would I be able to?" Elphaba politely requested. The judge simply nodded dumbly, stunned by Elphaba's unique skin colour. Glinda could see why- it wasn't every day that someone whose skin matched the grass outside walked into the courtroom. Until that moment, Glinda had seen that the judge had been focusing simply on the Wizard himself when it came to their legal team, and no one else.

Focusing her attention back to the trial, Glinda watched as Elphaba moved so that she stood directly in front of Crope. Though the blonde could not see Elphaba's eyes, she knew that her taller friend was boring holes into Crope with her eyes. Clearly, Crope was unused to intense gazes like Elphaba's. He was looking somewhat uncomfortable in his seat, though he tried to cover it with another one of his smiles.

"Crope," Elphaba began, "Exactly how long have you carried on this affair with our client?"

"Two years." Crope replied instantly.

"And your last name is?" She pressed

"I've told you earlier, I've discarded my last name." Crope said, just as fast as before.

"And your boyfriend's name is?"

"Tibbett."

It was dead silent in the court for a moment, before Crope's words sunk into the minds of everyone watching.

"Exactly." Elphaba smirked, just as Pandora 's Box was opened upon the court.

"Order!" The judge barked, pounding her gavel before her to catch everyone's attention and quell the chaotic crowd and court.

"Wait, wait!" Crope cried amidst the noise. Hearing him speak, many people quieted down enough to listen.

"I..." He stammered to Elphaba. "I-I thought that you said best friend, not boyfriend. Tibbett isn't my boyfriend. He's my best friend."

Glinda felt her heart sink. Though it was quite obvious to her that Crope was lying, the possibility that this 'Tibbett' really was just his best friend could hold in court. Though she hoped that the judge and the jury would think otherwise and believe that Crope really did have a boyfriend named Tibbett, she could see doubt flickering in some of their eyes.

Yet Glinda found that she didn't have to worry about that, as someone screamed out:

"**LIAR!"**

Whirling around to look behind her, Glinda saw a young man, possibly her age or a little older, standing behind Kumbricia. His hands were clenched into fists with fury, and his jaw was tight and sharp as he glowered at Crope. Glinda realized, with great surprise, that the yelling young man had to be Tibbett.

"Tell them Crope!" Tibbett yelled while pointing a finger at his boyfriend. "Tell them we're together! I'm through covering for you!"

Behind her, Glinda heard the sound of writing increase to a high, intense speed.

"I don't-" Crope started, but Tibbett cut him off.

"If you don't." Tibbett said darkly. "It's over between us."

It was so quiet in the courtroom after Tibbett announced the ultimatum that even the reporter sitting behind Glinda stopped writing. The silence was only broken when Crope mumbled something.

"What was that?" Tibbett pushed. "Speak _louder._"

"There _was _no affair!" Crope shouted. "I'm in love with Tibbett!"

Tibbett smiled.

"Thank you."

And as Tibbett and Crope smiled at each other, all hell broke loose in the courtroom. The judge was shouting herself hoarse and her gavel was about to break with the force she was slamming it with. The reporter started writing again, people watching the trial were full out yelling at each other to hear each other over the noise of everyone else, and the prosecution was staring, slack jawed, at Crope.

Glinda, however, paid no attention to any of this. Though other members of the legal team were beaming at her and shaking their heads in disbelief as they realized she was right all along, Glinda did not notice.

All she noticed, all that she saw, was the rare, triumphant smile on Elphaba's face that was directed at _her_ and her alone.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed thsi chapter. Updates should hopefully come a little sooner now. Also, for those of you who may not understand the 'Pandora 's Box was opened upon the court.' sentence above, it is a reference to a Greek mythology legend that said that all evil was released into the world when a woman named Pandora opened a box the gods had given her.


	17. Instinct

**Instinct**

Disclaimer – I do not own Elphaba, Glinda, or any other characters in this story. I do not own Wicked, nor do I own Legally Blonde.

* * *

"To a job well done!" The Wizard cheered.

"To a job well done!" The rest of the legal team chorused after him.

With a loud pop, the Wizard uncorked a bottle of champagne. The bottle, he had told them, was one from his own personal stash.

Taking a sip of the champagne, Glinda basked both in the triumph of uncovering Crope's perjury and in the bittersweet bubbly taste of the beverage in her hand.

When the judge had announced that court was adjourned for the day and they were to all reconvene tomorrow, the Wizard immediately brought them all back to the office to celebrate with drinks.

When they got back to the building, champagne was not all that was awaiting them. When the Wizard dashed out of sight to bring the bottle out, he brought not only that but fine glasses and a few snacks to go with it.

Once the champagne had been poured and everyone had their first sip, conversation sprung up immediately between all members of the legal team. They alternated between chatter and gulps of their drink, attitudes toward each other more loose and casual and friendly, aided partially by the champagne, but mostly by the renewed sense of camaraderie caused by the day's victory in court.

'_And all of this was caused by Elphie.'_ Glinda thought. A fond smile spread across her face and she turned to look for Elphaba, finding her speaking to Kumbricia. Though the young student could not hear Elphaba's exact words, she could hear the reservation in the green woman's voice; even with all that had happened and the celebration that was all to do with her, Elphaba was still holding back, guarding herself from the rest of the team.

'_Except for me.'_ Glinda mused, her smile growing even wider. '_I'm the only one here who she lets herself **be** herself around._'

And just as Glinda thought that, Elphaba suddenly noticed her past Kumbricia. With a last polite nod of her head, Elphaba ended their conversation and made her way over to Glinda, a grin on her green face.

"Having fun chatting?" Glinda teased with a twinkle in her eye as she sipped her champagne.

"It might take some getting used to." Elphaba chuckled. "I'm not used to this. In general, I mean. The whole socializing, uppity after party deal. Actually, I've...never been to a party before."

Glinda choked on her champagne at the words. As she began to cough, Elphaba's eyes widened. The woman took Glinda's glass from her hand and lead Glinda off to a more private corner of the room, so no one would notice her sudden coughing fit.

When Glinda's coughs had settled and her eyes had stopped watering, she took her drink back from Elphaba, murmuring 'thank you' to her colleague.

"You _are_ joking, right Elphie?" Glinda asked her, gaping up at the taller woman. "This isn't your very first party... is it?"

Elphaba slowly arched a brow.

"Do funerals count?"

Before Glinda could even fathom a response, the Wizard began to speak.

"Everyone!" he boomed. "I'd like your attention, please!"

When everybody stopped speaking and turned to look at him, the Wizard cleared his throat before continuing.

"I'd like to make a toast..." He said grandly. Sweeping across the room with his eyes, they finally settled on his green assistant.

"To Elphaba."

A broad smile appeared on his face as he talked. "For helping us come one step closer to ending the trial by exposing Crope."

Elphaba looked stunned, but pleased. Just as she was about to speak however, she was interrupted by a childish, high pitched giggle. All of the men and women in the room looked to the source of the noise- Fiyero.

"Exposing Crope." He snickered, his shoulders shaking as he laughed. The young man only quieted down when he noticed no one else was laughing at his immature joke. Seeing that they were all gazing at him with disapproval in their eyes, he hushed up. Turning his giggle into a poorly disguised cough, Fiyero poured more champagne into his nearly empty glass, keeping the bottle of champagne hugged closely to his side.

Ripping her disdainful eyes off of Fiyero, Elphaba cleared her own throat to speak.

"Thank you sir." She thanked the Wizard politely. "However, I can't take all of the credit. In all honesty, it's Glinda who helped. She was the one who discovered Crope's secret; I only believed the information and used it to make Crope crack. So I'd like to share this toast with her."

The green girl nodded in the blonde's direction, a small smile gracing her face. One by one, each of the members of the legal team (including the Wizard himself) rose their glasses up high.

"To Elphaba and Glinda!" They all chorused, before taking a sip from their glasses. Fiyero was the first one to polish off his drink, and when he was done, he laughed.

"Glinda might have helped us, but since when has being able to tell if a man is a homosexual or not been considered a legal victory?"

Before Glinda could say anything in response to Fiyero's rude comment, the Wizard cut in.

"Mister Tiggular, without that ability we never would have been able to reveal Crope's perjury." The older man told him. "Without that ability, our case would be looking terrible."

"Glinda Upland had intuition, and she followed it. She has shown more legal smarts today than most of the people on my payroll have ever shown me. She won this round for us by finding a contradiction in the witness' testimony, and that contradiction has set us ahead. By doing this, this makes her a great lawyer. Although..."

The Wizard turned his sights onto Glinda and smiled warmly at her.

"While we would still enjoy hearing Lurline's alibi," He chuckled, "By keeping it to herself and refusing to give it to us, therefore complying with the client's wishes, she has not once ever compromised Lurline's trust in her, making her a _great_ lawyer."

Glinda felt a surge of warmth and pride course through her as she heard the Wizard's words. For a moment, she felt as if she was floating- she was just that happy. The Wizard was calling her a great lawyer? The compliment meant the world to Glinda. It showed her that she was more than everyone thought she was.

However, her mood could only go up as the proud smile on the Wizard's face faded, becoming a thin, straight line as he turned back around with an icy glare affixed on his face.

"Unfortunately, I'm afraid the same cannot be said about _you_, Mister Tiggular." The Wizard said with a steel edge in his voice as he glared at Fiyero. "You have not shown me an ounce of tact, nor have you displayed the same kind of work, effort, and progress Miss Upland has."

"So be useful, Fiyero." The Wizard finished coolly. "Go and fetch me a drink; coffee, preferably."

After the Wizard's reprimand, Fiyero was beginning to look more and more like a foolish boy.

"B-but we're drinking champagne, sir." He mumbled, holding up and showing the nearly empty bottle clutched possessively in his hand.

"Good." The Wizard said, dismissively waving his hand as he ignored Fiyero's protest. "I'm glad you're going to go get me some. I take my coffee black, with no sugar or cream."

Fiyero opened his mouth, and for a moment, it looked as if he was going to argue with the professor. However, he closed it, deciding to hold his tongue. Draining the rest of the champagne in his glass, he left both that and the bottle (regretfully) as he went to go make the Wizard his coffee with his shoulders slumped.

The sorceress-turned-lawyer watched as Fiyero left shamefully, pitying the man. Never had she seen him so thoroughly disgraced before. He was a prince, after all- born with a right to whatever he wanted, chances were he had never had such a tongue-thrashing. However, Glinda felt the tiniest bit of satisfaction from seeming him slink away to make coffee for the Wizard- maybe now his snide and rude attitude towards her being a lawyer would stop.

"Well then!" The Wizard's voice broke into the socialite's thoughts. "I think that our little after party has gone on long enough."

"We have to save some for the _real_ party once we win the case, won't we?" the Wizard quipped, a sly grin on his face as he spoke, earning a laugh from his team (excluding Fiyero, of course, and Sarima, who had gone to teach Fiyero to brew a pot of coffee as he had called out for her in desperation for help.)

"I'll see you all tomorrow at the court room. Be there bright and early!" The professor ordered, as he collected glasses from all of them and set them down on a table. "Be sure to get a good night's rest and fresh dreams to you all."

Depositing her champagne flute on the table, Glinda picked up Elphaba's briefcase and handed it to her. Once the taller woman had a good grip on it, she headed to the door with Glinda by her side.

"Miss Upland."

The voice made the blonde pause, and she turned to see the Wizard looking at her intently.

"I'd like to have a word with you, privately."

"Of course sir!" Glinda beamed. Casting a glance at Elphaba, she looked up at her taller friend.

"I'll be right with you, Elphie." Glinda promised. Elphaba nodded and with a small smile, promptly left.

Turning back to the Wizard, Glinda saw him leaning on the table with champagne flutes pushed to one side of it, his back facing the window and the hallway on the other side of the window. Currently he was not wearing his glasses; he was polishing them with a small cloth he had plucked from his breast pocket.

"Sir?"

The Wizard raised his head, and smiled at his young student. Before he could speak though, Glinda raised a hand to make him pause.

"Before you say anything," She started, "I'd like to thank you. Earlier, what you said... it meant a lot to me. I've never had such a wonderful compliment before."

"You deserve the praise I gave you earlier, and much more Miss Upland." The Wizard smiled.

"Don't tell anyone I said that to you though." He warned. "I have a reputation that I need to uphold, after all."

"I won't," Glinda laughed. "I promise that I won't."

The Wizard nodded, the smile remaining on his face. He scooted over from his spot, and patted the spot he had vacated, gesturing for Glinda to come over. The blonde came over and rested against the table just as her professor was. She smiled at him once again, but after a moment her smile faded.

"In all honestly, sir," She said. "I really do want to thank you for this opportunity. Receiving this internship has changed me. The way I think, the way I see things and handle situations... since I've received this internship, my perspective on everything really has developed into something different, something better. I've just learned so much."

"Now now, Miss Upland." The Wizard waggled a finger at her. "It's not so much about what you learn, because that's not the point."

"It's not?" Glinda blinked. The Wizard shook his head.

"No; it's not." He said to her. He paused, and wrapped his glasses in the cleaning cloth before tucking both into his pocket. After both were out of sight however, he did not continue his sentence. He did not speak for so long, that Glinda considered leaving. Just before she did though, he spoke once again.

"Tell me, Miss Upland; have you considered being a summer associate?"

"I-I've been thinking about it sir." Glinda stammered, stunned. "But I know that the other people on the team are eyeing for that position as well. There would be a lot of competition."

"But you know what competition is about, don't you?" The Wizard laughed. "It's all about ferocity and carnage, Miss Upland. The strongest wins in a competition. It's all about knowing what you want, and knowing exactly how far you are willing to go to get what you want and keep it. As well as that, there are other things."

"There are?" Glinda wondered.

"Yes, Glinda, there are." The Wizard dropped his hand from his lap to his side, where it rested in between his and Glinda's leg.

"It's all about your instinct." His eyes glinted.

"We lawyers are known as sharks because the best of us search and sniff out the blood in the water. How do we do this, you may ask?" He paused for dramatic effects. "Simple. We do this by following our instincts."

"These instincts, legal instinct or pure human instinct, cannot be taught in my class or in any other class. We are born with them, and as we grow, they develop and change. When we meet others, these instincts can develop and change even more in ways we never expected nor intended. All I do is advise people to trust these instincts... which is what I _firmly_ believe you should do too."

"So I should trust my instincts?" Glinda repeated as she gazed at him, blue eyes shining as she soaked in the knowledge of the statement.

"Yes." He nodded sagely, leaning in closer. "You should trust your instincts."

And after that moment, something happened.

Things moved too quickly for Glinda to react. There was a quick flurry of movement, and as things settled, Glinda took a few moments to become aware of what had happened in the span of five seconds that had passed by.

Somehow, she had been pushed back and down. She felt her back being forcibly arched as she fought to still her body and stop her back from crashing into the table.

She felt one hand roughly grabbing her chin, tilting her head up and pulling it closer. The fingers that held her were possessive; harsh, rough, and unforgiving. Glinda could already feel the strain settling in her neck, and she knew that if the fingers didn't let up soon bruises would start to form on her face.

Most of all, Glinda felt lips pressed against her own.

They were cold, thin and chapped lips, trying to claim ownership of her mouth in a bruising, dominating kiss.

With so many things assaulting her senses, only one thing managed to make itself clear in Glinda's jumbled mind.

'_The Wizard is kissing me.'_


	18. Just Meant to Smile

**Just Meant to Smile  
**

Disclaimer - _I_ do not own Glinda, or Elphaba, or the Wizard. I do not own any characters mentioned within this story. I do not own Wicked, and I do not own Legally Blonde.

* * *

'_The Wizard is kissing me.'_

_-_

As the thought rolled around Glinda's head, time seemed to freeze, and Glinda along with it. The situation was just so surreal that she could hardly believe that it was happening.

But, as realization sunk in, time thawed and the ice cold runoff began to flow in her veins instead.

And as the Wizard tried to deepen the kiss and the hand on Glinda's thigh tried to force its way up and under her skirt, a wave of sickness washed over the young intern. Grabbing the Wizard's hand and stopping it from going any higher, Glinda roughly pulled it off of her leg. While the Wizard was still stunned, she raised her hands, placed both of them with palms flat on his chest, and shoved him as hard and far away as she could.

Though Glinda was by no means an extremely strong woman, the shove (combined with the Wizard's surprise) was enough to send the defence attorney back, stumbling.

Panting, the Wizard took heaving breaths, his heavy inhales caused by a mixture of sudden shock from his stumble, and (to Glinda's disgust and horror) lust.

Yet Glinda stood still, her breaths even and light. She made no sound as she stared at the Wizard, who was dishevelled and out of breath. She spoke not a word; not a single word, until the Wizard had fixed himself and his horrid breathing had returned to normal.

It was only when silence reigned the room once more did Glinda allow herself to speak.

"You hit on me." She said, her face void of emotion. Her eyes, however, were a different story; they were filled with a myriad of different feelings- all bad, all negative. "You kissed me."

"You're a beautiful woman, Glinda." The Wizard rasped. "It's not hard to see at all." He took a step closer to Glinda, but she stepped back.

"So everything..." Glinda hissed. "Everything you've told me... every single thing you said earlier was a huge _lie?_ Just a lie to get me here, into this position?"

"Not everything was a lie, Glinda." The older man chuckled, the humour in his laugh simply upsetting Glinda further.

"What I said about knowing what you want, knowing how far you'll go to get it and knowing to trust your instincts is all true." He smirked. "And that's what I just did, and am doing right at this moment. I'm a man who knows what he wants, knows how far he'll go to get it and knows to trust what he feels."

Practically leering at Glinda, the smirked remained on his face as he took a step back away from her.

But it wasn't far enough.

Glinda raised her right hand as high and far back as she could, and slapped the Wizard with all the strength she had across the face.

The sharp crack resonated through the room as the flesh of Glinda's palm met the flesh of the Wizard's cheek. It echoed in the empty office and lingered long after the student's hand left the teacher's face.

For a few moments after, they both remained still- Glinda's hand stayed in mid-air, palm open,= and stinging from the force she had struck the Wizard with. The Wizard's head remained facing to the left, a red mark in the shape of a handprint quickly beginning to form on his face.

And then things began to move again as the situation and the actions that had just occurred finally registered in both of their minds. Glinda's hand dropped, limp, to her side, while the Wizard raised a hand to his face and gingerly touched the cheek where Glinda had slapped him.

A slow, hollow chuckle was emitted from the Wizard's mouth as he gently began to rub the tender skin, eyes closed. Glinda longed to hit him again, this time across his other cheek; she longed for it so much that her hands were almost trembling at her sides.

Her longing faded as the Wizard opened his eyes and gazed at her; for in his eyes, Glinda could see the change. The glint there told her she was dealing with the ruthless, ambitious Wizard – not the smooth talking, joyful, popular man all of Oz loved.

Yet the glint was different this time.

It was icy.

It was harder than stone.

It was filled with arrogance, hatred, disdain, and smug, sickening satisfaction.

Most of all, it was scaring Glinda.

The Wizard's chuckle was neither rising nor falling in volume. It stayed steady and never died down, not even as he reached into the breast pocket of his waistcoat, pulled out his glasses, and placed them on his face.

His unending and unnerving laughter only stopped when the professor smiled at Glinda and looked her in the eye and said:

"It's been a pleasure working with you, Miss Upland. You can show yourself out."

With that, he nodded at Glinda and his smile twisted into a conniving, infuriating smirk. His cold expressions sent shivers down Glinda's spine, and his eyes... the sudden gleam of glee and uninhibited, unadulterated loathing that Glinda saw there made her stomach curdle.

With a wave of his hand, the Wizard shoved his hands into his pockets and walked away, whistling a jaunty tune as he stepped out of the conference room and into his private office.

As the door to his office closed shut, Glinda felt numb all over, the Wizard's voice ringing in her head, over and over and over.

'_It's been a pleasure working with you.'_

She had been fired.

She had lost her position as in intern and lost her chance to protect Lurline, all because she refused to succumb to the Wizard's advances.

Stunned by her disbelief, Glinda stumbled out of the conference room, trying to sort out her thoughts and deal with the emotions to come. However, that would not be the case. She would not have time to deal with herself before a voice would sneer at her:

"Well hello there, Miss Upland."

Glinda stopped, mid-stride, as she came face to face with Fiyero and Sarima. It was Fiyero who had spoken- in his hands he held a mug filled with steaming coffee.

"So this is how you earned it." Fiyero slurred, staring at her. "It makes sense now; you slept with the Wizard. That's the only way you could've gotten this internship."

Glinda was confused. Why was Fiyero speaking to her the way he was? He didn't know what had happened. Why was he saying this to her?

And then Glinda realized something.

Behind her, behind the table both she and the Wizard had been leaning on, there was a window; a glass window that was connected to the hallway outside.

'_He saw me.'_ Glinda thought, eyes widening. '_He saw what happened. He saw the Wizard kissing me.'_

"Fiyero," She tried, but she was cut off as Fiyero turned to look at Sarima.

"Maybe we should find the jury, Sarima." The prince laughed bitterly as he nearly fell over, the mug falling out of his hands and crashing onto the ground, spilling its contents everywhere. "Then G-G-Glinda here can sleep with _all _of them, and we'll win the case."

Though Glinda could clearly tell Fiyero was intoxicated and not in his clearest state of mind, his words hurt. The Wizard had done enough – now Fiyero as well? Glinda didn't think she could take anymore.

And so did Sarima, apparently, as the woman reached out and grabbed Fiyero's shoulder.

"Fiyero." She snapped, her eyes boring into her husband-to-be. "You've gone too far."

Silenced by Sarima, all Fiyero could do was throw the blonde a spiteful glare before turning and stumbling down the hallway to the stairs. As Fiyero headed for the exit, Glinda expected Sarima to follow him out and away.

Surprisingly, she did not. Sarima paused and looked hesitant- as if she was going to say something. Glinda's eyes met hers and the sorceress-turned-law-student saw something there; something she could not decipher. Before she could even try to comprehend, Sarima turned and followed after Fiyero, moving as fast as she could in her short heels.

Yet again, Glinda was left alone with nothing but her thoughts. This time it was worse- along with the Wizard's words, Glinda now had another voice and another sentence echoing in her ears.

'_That's the only way you could have gotten this internship.'_

Is that what Fiyero thought? That she had gotten where she was by lying with her superiors?

In fact, was Fiyero the only one who thought that? What about the others? The rest of the legal team? Her fellow classmates in Shiz? Was this... this _lie_ the only possible explanation to her success?

'_But it's not a lie, is it Glinda?'_ A nasty little voice laughed cruelly in Glinda's head. '_At least, not to them it isn't. __**Everyone**__ believes it.'_

"No." Glinda whispered aloud. "It's... that's not true." Yet still, Glinda felt a pricking sensation in her eyes; a sure sign of tears beginning to build.

'_Don't lie to yourself'_ the voice snickered. '_This is who they see you as- a woman who cannot possibly use her brain to get where she wants to go, and instead has to spread her legs.'_

The voice faded away, and by the time it did, Glinda was squeezing her eyes shut to force back anymore tears from building. Sniffling, she opened her eyes and wiped them, but she could not so easily wipe away the sadness in her heart, or the sick dread of what she knew she had to do now.

Though she didn't want to, though she wanted nothing more than to do the opposite, Glinda knew.

She knew that she had to leave.

With heavy feet and a heavier heart, Glinda slowly began to walk to and down the staircase. Each footstep in the empty stairwell echoed, each sound magnified tenfold, constantly reminding Glinda that every step she took would be closer and closer to her last step as a Shiz student.

'_Take back the books.'_ Glinda thought to herself, beginning a list of chores she needed to do once she reached her dorm room. What did she need her books for now, anyways? To keep them would only be a reminder of what she had failed to do.

'_Then I have to...'_ Glinda's throat tightened as she thought, but she simply swallowed and continued to think to herself about her list. She had to- if she let her mind water, surely, she would cry. '_I have to pack up all my clothes and belongings, clear out the room, and drop off my room key.'_

"And then I'll leave." She whispered aloud. "I'll leave and go back to Gillikin."

'_Back home with my shattered pride, back with what's left of my dignity.'_ She thought bitterly, tears smarting in her eyes. Angrily, she wiped them away. '_I'll get on the train and I'll go.'_

As Glinda's vision blurred over once more, she felt her foot slip and she hung onto the railing of the stairs for dear life as she nearly took a tumble down the stone steps. When her legs had stopped shaking and she had ceased her trembling, the blonde stared down the stairs.

She had almost fallen.

Not once, since she had tried on and bought her first pair of heels, had Glinda ever fallen.

To make such a mistake only depressed Glinda further. Staring down at her shoes, the blonde grew upset. She should have known better than to move at her pace down the stairs in the shoes she was wearing.

Just like she should have known better than to enrol at Shiz.

Thinking back, everyone had tried to dissuade her. Her parents, her teachers... Milla, Pfannee and Shenshen, her so called 'sisters'... Sarima, Kumbricia, and even Fiyero. All of them had told her, whether it was direct or not, that a school like Shiz was clearly not the place for her. They told her she would fail.

Yet Glinda hadn't listened. She had headed forward, boldly and bravely, despite their cries of protest. She disagreed with their claims of her coming failure, disagreed with every put-down and every negative comment and hadn't given in to any attempt to make her leave. From there, Glinda did not know where life would take her, or what would happen to her.

"And now I know." Glinda laughed hollowly, wrapping her arms around her torso, feeling another chill run up her spine. "And now I'll go home, where I belong."

Back with her Momsie and Popsicle and their grand estate. Back to high couture and modern culture and Ozmopolitan cities. Back to her sorority, back to her old life. Back to where she was before.

Back where she could never be happy, not anymore.

As Glinda stepped off of the last stair, she felt tears prickle her eyes once again. Holding them back, Glinda raced for the exit, wanting to get back to the form room and get her possessions packed immediately so she could make the speediest departure from Shiz that she could.

But as Glinda rounded the corner and saw the exit, she also saw something... or rather, _someone_ she had completely forgotten about.

Elphaba.

As said woman caught sight of Glinda, she smiled.

"Look who it is," She said with false excitement, her eyes full of mirth and a teasing smirk on her face. "It's the intern of the year. Shall I get your personal carriage for you and call the media to announce your departure, ma'am?"

Hearing Elphaba's voice only made everything worse. Leaving Shiz would mean leaving Elphaba, one of the only _real_, true friends she had ever had.

'_You have to thank her.'_ Glinda's conscience told her. '_You have to say goodbye. If you don't now, you'll never have another chance to.'_

Swallowing harshly, Glinda smiled weakly back at the other woman in response to her joke, before speaking herself.

"Elphaba... I want to thank you. For everything."

Hearing Glinda call her by her full name and not the nickname she had slowly and unknowingly grown fond of made the smile disappear of her face as Elphaba realized that something was not right.

"Glinda?" The mirth in her eyes was replaced with questions.

Glinda bit her lip and drew a deep breath, fighting to keep her voice steady and strong.

"Thank you for treating me with decency and respect. It was all I could have asked for and more in a place like Shiz, a place like this." She swept her arm out, motioning to the building and the law office.

"Glinda." Elphaba repeated the blonde's name again, but this time it was said with a commanding air. "Tell me what's wrong."

The verdant woman reached a hand out to place it on Glinda's shoulder, but the normally bubbly blonde avoided it, shrugging her shoulder and keeping her arm away. Elphaba, surprised and a little hurt from Glinda's rebuke to her touch. She quickly forgot her own feelings as she realized that (for sure now) something was _definitely _wrong with Glinda.

"If..." Glinda trailed off. Swallowing thickly once more, she cleared her throat before lifting her eyes from the ground to finally meet Elphaba's.

The stoic woman was visibly stunned to see tears glistening in Glinda's eyes.

"If you should ever come to Gillikin, I want you to come and visit me." Glinda smiled tearfully, her throat and voice strained and tight, making her speak at barely above a whisper. "Write me letters, tell me about everything and anything here, and I promise I will always write back."

With that, Glinda brushed past Elphaba, heading straight for the exit doors. However, the green woman was faster than her, and Elphaba nimbly cut Glinda off in her path.

"Glinda, you're not making any sense." She breathed. "Wait for a moment. Where are you going? What do you mean you want me to visit you?"

"You're staying here, aren't you?"

From the way Elphaba was standing, she could look down, straight into Glinda's eyes and see every emotion; and now, staring at her, Elphaba could see plenty of emotions. There was distress, anger, defeat, shame, sadness, self-pity... and each one was turbulent. Yet worst off, worse than Glinda's cacophony of mixed negative emotions was the _broken_ look that had never existed there before. To see it in Glinda's eyes worried Elphaba, and when no response was immediately given to her earlier question, the gears turned in Elphaba's head and everything clicked into place.

This was Glinda's farewell.

Though Elphaba was a highly articulate speaker, a person who knew language, grammar, spelling, and sophisticated language like she knew the back of her emerald green hand, the only word she could force out of her mouth in response was this.

"Why."

Glinda knew that Elphaba wasn't asking her a question- she was ordering that Glinda give her the answer. Instead of doing so, Glinda laughed, the sound eerie and hollow.

"I'm sorry Elphie." She smiled sadly. "I'm letting Lurline and almost everyone down by leaving, aren't I?"

Glinda stepped away from the door, but Elphaba followed her.

"Glinda, I want to know." Elphaba told her quietly. "What brought on this decision? You're doing so well- so much better than so many people thought you would."

If Glinda had heard Elphaba, she did not show it.

"But... my leaving won't really have an effect on anything, really. I'm not important to the team. I've _never_ been important to our team."

"Glinda-?"

"You did your best with a hopeless case, Elphie." Glinda interrupted. Her back had been to Elphaba this entire time, but finally she turned to look at Elphaba, face to face.

"But your best just wasn't enough."

"Don't say that Glinda." Elphaba shook her head, seeing that Glinda was dead serious about what she was saying. "You're not hopeless, and you _are_ important to the team. It's ludicrous to think anyone _wouldn't_ consider you important!"

"You are the best thing about this entire place." Both Glinda and Elphaba blurted out, simultaneously.

Stunned by their tandem thoughts and words, Glinda stood, quieted. Did Elphaba really mean that? Was _she_ Elphaba's favourite part of Shiz and law?

The thought nearly brought even more tears to Glinda's eyes. Biting back a sob, the tiny woman decided that Elphaba, of all people, deserved to know what was causing ehr to leave.

"Glinda..." Elphaba was beginning to say. "There's something that you need to know-"

"The Wizard kissed me."

**Silence.**

"He... he did _what?"_ Elphaba finally managed to muster, gaping.

"He kissed me." Glinda repeated the words bitter in her mouth. "He kissed me, and he propositioned me. When I refused, he fired me; he told me that I was no longer required, and he made it quite clear to me that I don't belong here."

Her body trembling with choked sobs, and tears burning her eyes, Glinda tried for the door once again, wiping her eyes carelessly on the sleeve of her blazer to clear her vision.

This time she was successful, and instead of being stopped, Glinda stumbled out of the door and into the cool night. Suddenly, she was reminded of the Shiz mixer, and a sense of déjà-vu struck her.

Yet this was worse than learning that Fiyero didn't find her good enough for him. This stung more, and cut deeper- knowing that one of the only things that had made her truly happy and proud, knowing that her fellow law students only thought of her as a joke, and knowing that the internship she had strived so hard to achieve and receive had only been given to her for her looks was much too much.

Somehow, in the dark of night, Glinda managed to hail a carriage to get her back to her dorm. Glinda didn't remember the ride back- she only remembered the ache in her heart and the pain of knowing she had failed.

Yet as she reached her dorm, she remembered another thing- she remembered the sound of a voice.

The voice of Elphaba.

The very same person who had, apparently, hailed her own ride to take her to the dorms as well in an effort to follow Glinda.

"Glinda!"

Though Glinda tried to hurry, Elphaba once again beat for to the door of the building.

"Elphie, please..." Glinda protested, but Elphaba would not have it as she hushed Glinda.

"He's wrong." Elphaba panted, chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath; chasing after Glinda and beating her to the door form such a far distance (not to mention the fear tugging at her heart) had robbed the green woman of that air in her lungs.

Once the woman had managed to regain her breath, she repeated her words more definitively than before.

"He's wrong, Glinda." Elphaba said firmly, her eyes flickering with fire as she spoke to the distraught blonde. "You belong here. You're crucial to everyone. I meant what I said when I told you that you are the best thing about this place."

"We can fix this, Glinda!" Elphaba pleaded, the passion and anger in her eyes regressing, exposing the side of Elphaba that Glinda had never seen before, the side of Elphaba that looked as though it was terrified that Glinda would leave. "We'll fight the Wizard and make him rehire you. But to do that, you need to stay."

"Elphie... please." Glinda murmured, fighting back tears for what seemed the millionth time. Reaching out, she gently cupped Elphaba's cheek. "I can't fight him. You... _you_ can't fight him. You can't go against the Wizard. I won't let you. He's... he's _your_ one chance. And as for me..."

Glinda trailed off as she dropped her hand limply to her side and swallowed harshly, her throat seizing up painfully. For what felt like hours, she fought and fought, and finally, the words escaped her mouth.

"There's no reason for me to stay."

Closing her eyes, Glinda blindly groped for the door handle as she pushed past Elphaba. Finding it, she tumbled forward as it opened and went inside.

As the door clicked shut behind Glinda, Elphaba stood frozen in place. For what felt like ages, the green woman stayed there, her eyes locked onto the heavy wooden door that Glinda had disappeared behind. Her eyes stayed wide, and her mouth remained shut. Even the world seemed to slow down and fall silent alongside Elphaba.

The only movements made by Elphaba; the only sounds she produced were made when the green woman opened her mouth to whisper words into the wind, hoping in vain that somehow Glinda would hear them.

"What about love? Wouldn't you stay for love, Glinda? Would you stay if I had made it more clear that you belong here at Shiz... with me?"

* * *

Glinda barrelled toward her room, biting her lip so hard she tasted blood as she forced herself not to look back at the door where she had left Elphaba.

Glinda was almost unable to enter her room, for her hands were shaking so badly when she tried to push her key into the lock. Yet somehow she did it and she managed to get herself inside.

As she came in, Glinda's mind just registered that Maddie was not there, leaping up onto her hind legs to balance herself against Glinda's knee. Vaguely, Glinda remembered that she had dropped the little dog off to stay with Nessa for the night, as she had anticipated earlier that things might have dragged on in court.

Thinking of Nessa only made Glinda hurt more, as she realized she had to say goodbye to _both_ Thropp sisters and not just Elphaba.

Pressing a hand to cover her eyes (as if to physically push the tears back) Glinda wandered over to her desk, pulled out the chair and sat down, burying her face in her arms.

How could she leave all of this?

How could she ever return to Gillikin and be expected to be G**a**linda again, and not-

"Glinda!"

The (now former) law student's head shot up, blonde tresses bouncing. Turning her gaze to her door, Glinda heard and practically saw the violent knocks her door was undertaking.

"Glinda!" The voice yelled again, and the socialite slowly realized that once again, it was Elphaba.

Elphaba: calm, stoic, collected Elphaba, who never acted before thinking of her actions, was banging on her door late at night, bellowing Glinda's name at the top of her lungs, desperation clear in her tone.

For a brief moment, Glinda worried that the other people on her floor would wake or at least come into the hall to check to see what the ruckus was all about. However, Glinda found she was uncaring as despair consumed her again. She was going to be out of there and long gone by the week's end, so if the others had a problem, no one would have to suffer for very long. For once, Glinda just did not care.

And apparently, neither did the other people in their rooms, as Glinda heard no one coming outside to stop Elphaba.

"Glinda!" Elphaba shouted, her voice muffled by the door and her own aggressive knocks. "Glinda, _please_ open the door."

Glinda heard the thumps resounding through the door as Elphaba tried to convince Glinda to let her inside. Occasionally the doorknob rattled as Elphaba tried to open the door.

Yet even as Glinda watched and listened, she didn't make a single move to let Elphaba in.

Eventually, there was one last slam on the door. It echoed around Glinda's room, and when no sounds followed, Glinda thought that Elphaba had left.

That is, until she heard Elphaba speak.

"If you can hear me... If you'll listen to me Glinda, I want you to know that... that you don't know just how much I want you to stay."

Her voice was quiet and soft. However, the volume that Elphaba spoke at did not stop Glinda from hearing every word; nor did it stop her from hearing the rough catch in Elphaba's voice.

Slowly, Glinda stood up from the desk and walked to her door and placed her hand on it. For what seemed like an eternity, Glinda stood there with her hand pressed to the door, her heart wrenching painfully, and her mind seeking out the words she needed to say.

"I'm sorry, Elphie." Was all that Glinda could say.

"But this isn't... it's... it's not up to me. This entire issue... it's not in my hands. Not anymore."

"I _need_ you to stay." Elphaba said, almost begging, her voice but a whisper from behind the door.

But the whisper was all that Glinda needed to her to realize that Elphaba was crying.

The blonde longed to open the door and let Elphaba in. Yet she knew; she knew if she did, everything would be only so much harder to let go of it she saw Elphie's tears.

"It's not up to me." Glinda breathed, even thought pain teared through her heart.

For several moments, the hallway was quiet. Suddenly, Glinda heard footsteps- heavy, rushed footsteps- move away from her door and all but run down the hallway, run away from _her._

The footsteps rang in her ears; each one amplified intensely, each one reminding Glinda that Elphaba- the one, the only person who had wanted to fight for her to stay- had been chased away by her own insistence.

It was only when Elphaba was completely gone that Glinda let her knees give out, letting her body slide boneless to the floor.

It was only when Elphaba was gone did Glinda let sobs wrack her petite form, letting her tears finally flow.

It was only when Elphaba was gone did Glinda let one thought pass through her mind.

_"Just let me be legally blonde."_

_

* * *

_

Sorry for the wait everyone.I've been busy recently, and I hit a bit of a writers block with Legally Wicked for the next chapter. However, I'm dealing with it- I've taken a short break from this story and while in that break I wrote something different. That story is almost done now, and it's helped me tremendously to get over my block. Hopefully the next chapter will come soon. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed.


	19. No Wizard That There Is Or Was

**No Wizard That There Is Or Was**

**Disclaimer - I do not own Wicked. I do not own Legally Blonde. I do not own any of these characters.**

* * *

Eyes watched the 'Wash and Brush Up co.' staff prepare for another day of work through the front window. Inside, the workers were arranging their tools of the trade, ranging from a simple pair of scissors to the special dye that was used to change the colours of people's irises.

However, the eyes of this individual were focused not on the haircutters or the eye-dyers, but instead upon a young woman who was sitting in a bulky chair with wheels. The young woman seemed to be fiddling around with items in front of her, and the person knew that the woman they were watching was arranging the different kinds of nail polish that were at her station.

Taking a deep breath, the person watching the woman in the wheelchair moved over to the front door of the 'Wash and Brush Up co.' Reaching out a hand, the person intended to push the door and enter the salon, but they found their strength had suddenly left their arm. For what seemed like ages, they stood here, palm pressed against the door. Finally they entered with a pained expression on their face as they thought of what they had to do next.

As they came in, the receptionist looked up and nodded at them. Pointing a manicured nail and finger in one direction, she simply told the person "She's open."

They nodded back at the receptionist, and slowly made their way over to the station where the woman in the wheelchair was sitting.

When they reached the station, the woman in the wheelchair noticed them. A smile brightened her eyes and face.

"Glinda!"

Glinda smiled weakly at the woman as she greeted her with a good morning. Before she could say much else however, the bell above the door of the salon tinkled, notifying every worker that yet another customer had come through the door.

Glinda did not bother to turn around- she had barely heard the jingle, too lost in her thoughts about how to break it to her younger friend that she was to leave Shiz.

The wheelchair-bound woman smiled once more. If her smile had been bright when Glinda arrived, it was now dazzling. All of a sudden, she began to pat down her hair and adjust her headband and skirt, smoothing the pleats against her immobile legs.

"Good morning!" A familiar voice rang out. It broke Glinda out of her reverie, and made her finally turn to look at her side and see what the cause of her friend's delight was; that cause being the uniformed, grinning Munchkin man from before.

"Good morning Boq!" Nessa breathed, a finger suddenly finding itself entangled in a loose tendril of hair as she gazed shyly at the man standing beside Glinda. "What brings you here today? Do you have a package to deliver?"

Though Boq could not see it, Glinda saw the brightness of her friend's smile diminish for a moment as the thought finally occurred to her that Boq might only be there for professional reasons. However, her smile was brighter than ever before as he shook his head.

"I came here to see you actually, Miss Thropp." The delivery man grinned. "I just want to thank you for taking me to a hospital for my foot the other day."

"It's the least I could do." She blushed. "It was my fault after all. I couldn't leave you."

"Every cloud has a silver lining." Boq quoted. "As I've hurt my foot, and my delivery service is short on hands, they've decided to splurge on something that will help me move around faster so they can keep me working."

He motioned to the window, where there was a horse tied up, tail flicking lazily as it waited for Boq to return.

"And that is thanks to you Miss Thropp." He beamed, tipping his hat to Glinda's friend. As Glinda watched on, she could have sworn that her friend nearly swooned.

"Please," The brunette said in a breathy voice, lashes fluttering like she was a cliché. "Call me Nessarose."

"As long as you say so." Boq shrugged, his smile remaining. There was a comfortable silence, and Glinda felt as if she was intruding on their moment. However, that moment was broken when the delivery man glanced at his wristwatch and took note of the time.

"Unfortunately I have to go." He said ruefully, with a sheepish smile on his face. "Duty calls."

"Have a nice day Nessarose." He tipped his hat at her again, and before leaving, tipped his hat to Glinda as well.

Together, both women watched as the munch kin hopped onto his horse with little effort, despite his height, and rode away. Once he was gone, Nessa turned back to Glinda.

"Isn't he something?" She asked the blonde, eyes shining with love and adoration. "You know, I just realized that if it hadn't been for you, I would still be in the same predicament as before- stuck without my home. Even worse, I would still be pining over Boq. It's all thanks to you, Glinda."

Stunned by her friend's declaration, Glinda swallowed harshly and closed her eyes. It touched her that Nessa felt that way; and it was the fact that it touched her that made everything so much harder.

"I... I should be the one thanking you, Nessa." Glinda replied finally as she opened her eyes again. "Those words... they mean a lot to me. They show me you're a good friend. I'll be sure to write to you."

It was her last few words that made Nessa's lovesick smile and adoring eyes melt away, leaving them to be replaced by something quite the opposite.

"Excuse me?" Nessa said, dumbfounded. "Did I hear you wrong?"

"No Nessa," Glinda said quietly, turning her eyes away. "You didn't."

Staring at Glinda with confusion in her eyes, Nessa rolled away from her desk and wheeled herself so she was in front of Glinda, looking up and into the woman's face.

"What do you mean 'I'll be sure to remember you'?"

"I'm..." Glinda's breath hitched suddenly. She hadn't meant for it to; her body had caused the reaction all on its own. It didn't want Glinda to say the words that had formed in her throat. It was mind versus body for a moment, but Glinda's body managed to win out as Glinda said in a rushed tangle of words:

"I'mgoingbacktoGillikin."

There was a pause.

Nessa's reaction was near explosive.

"YOU'RE GOING BACK TO WHERE!?"

Glinda winced and glanced around the room. It wasn't so much about her being embarrassed, but about Nessa's future embarrassment if she would begin to yell. Glinda's own reputation around these people didn't matter anymore; she would be gone soon enough.

Thankfully, no one was around. Everyone else was in the backroom, and the receptionist was not paying any attention. Turning back to Nessa, Glinda bent down a little closer to Nessa,  
"I'm going to go back to the Uplands, Nessa." The blonde repeated.

"But... but why?" Nessa was bemused. "Shiz is an amazing school! Why don't you stay?"

Glinda shook her head.

"It's not Shiz that's the problem, Nessa."

"Then why are you leaving?" Nessa said, demanding to know. "Don't you like it here?"

Glinda shook her head again, more vehemently than before. "No!" She said forcefully.  
Nessa was taken aback by Glinda's reaction, but she overcame her surprise quickly as Glinda apologized.

"It's not that Nessa." Glinda sighed. "I… I love it here. But that's exactly why it's going to make it so much harder for me to leave."

"Then… why?" Nessa looked small and confused, and it only then occurred to Glinda how much her leaving would affect Nessa.

"Why are you going?"

Glinda hesitated to answer. Recalling everything that had happened, and having to retell the events of the previous night to Nessa would refresh her pain, something that Glinda did not want to happen. Yet, Nessa deserved to know- it was the least that Glinda could do.

"Last night…" Glinda began. Before going on any further, she paused, involuntarily, for a lump had risen to her throat as she remembered once again what had happened. Swallowing back the lump (and the sudden urge to cry once again as well), Glinda took a deep breath and began to outline what had happened.

While she explained to Nessa what happened, Glinda kept an eye on the younger woman's emotions- confusion taking fire and turning into anger, anger melting into sadness, and finally sadness turning into a look of hurt.

"B-but," Nessa stammered at the end of Glinda's story. "You can't go! Not now!"

"It's not my decision to make if I'll leave or not, Nessa." Glinda murmured softly. "Not anymore."

"But you have to stay." Nessa pleaded, wheeling closer to Glinda. "Can't you do something? Maybe Elphaba-"

"Elphaba has done enough for me, Nessa." The blonde woman said, cutting Nessa off. Once again, Nessa was surprised, and once again, she regained her composure quickly. This time however, there was no apology from Glinda.

"She's done everything I could have asked for her to do, and even more." Glinda told the younger Thropp sister. No longer did she keep eye contact with Nessa, either; Glinda's eyes had shifted her focus on the world outside of the window behind Nessa instead of said woman's face.

"But there has to be someone who can help, right?" Nessa asked. Reaching out, she grasped Glinda's hands and pulled them into her own, clutching onto them tightly, an action Nessa had never done before.

"There has to be some way you can stay." Nessa muttered. "What if you told Shiz? The people there could do something, couldn't they? They could fire the Wizard."

Sucking in a harsh breath, Glinda turned her eyes back to Nessa, a weak smile on her face, cheeks pale.

"I know you're trying to help me Nessa, and it touches me." Glinda told Nessa. "But that's not going to work. It would be my word against the Wizard's- some first year student from Gillikin again the man who is the 'Wonderful Wizard'. They would believe him and kick me out for even accusing him of his actions before I could tell them my side of the story. As well, by firing him, they would lose one of their best teachers."

"But Glinda-"

"There's no way for me to win Nessa." Glinda laughed. She squeezed Nessa's hands gently and crystalline tears appeared in her blue eyes as she half sobbed to her friend, "I thought that this entire time, I was proving myself and showing the real me. I thought I was making a difference, but I was completely wrong. I'm not proving anything to anyone. No one takes me seriously- I'm just a stupid, blonde joke, and that's all anyone will ever see me as."

"That's not what I see."

Glinda froze.

_'Is that…?'_

Slowly Glinda turned around and came face to face with the person she least expected to see.

"Sarima?"

The woman stared back at her and nodded.

"You can't go, Glinda." Sarima said firmly. "Not now."

Glinda's brow creased. Out of all people, Glinda would have expected Sarima to be on the very top of the list of people who wanted her gone.

"Why are you here?" The flaxen haired woman asked. "Shouldn't you be at the courthouse? Lurline's trial is due to start soon."

"I know." The Vinkus woman replied, no trace of arrogance in her voice. "I should be there- and so should you."

"Sarima I can't be there." Glinda said, biting her lip and turning away; seeing Sarima was just too much at the moment. "You don't need my help for the trial. You can all handle it on your own."

The blonde took a step toward the door, but Sarima blocked her way.

"But we do need you." Sarima told her, staring purposely a Glinda with hard eyes, trying to drill her message into the blonde's head.

"Sarima-"

"The Wizard doesn't believe a word that comes out of Lurline's mouth." Sarima said loudly, stopping Glinda's protest."Without his trust in Lurline and without Lurline's trust in him, she will be sent to Southstairs before we even get a chance to cross examine the first witness."

"In fact Glinda," Sarima continued on, "There is one person she trusts more than the rest of us combined. That's you. You need to be the one at the trial."

Glinda laughed, the sound hollow and bitter, lacking its usual mirth and joy.

"I can't help anyone anymore." Glinda said. " I need to leave. I can't go to the trial, I'd just make a fool of myself. I know what you all think of me- I know that you saw what happened last night Sarima. If I know you, you've probably already told everyone what you saw-"

"If you know me as well as you think you do, Miss Glinda." Sarima hissed, finally losing out to her mounting irritation. "Then you would know what I have not told anyone, and I _am not_ going to tell anyone what you think I'd say, _and_ that I know that the Wizard was coming onto _you_!"

Those last few words echoed in Glinda's ears.

"…What?" Glinda asked, breathless, hardly believing what she had heard.

"Unlike Fiyero, who stormed off after he saw you and the Wizard, I stayed." Sarima admitted quietly, regaining her stern and calm composure. " I saw you slap him last night, but I couldn't believe what I had saw. Though I'm ashamed to admit it, for a while I was on the fence, wondering if you were keeping the Wizard away or if you and him were having some sort of lover's spat. I couldn't make up my mind, until…"

Sarima trailed off and fidgeted uncomfortably. Glinda, hanging onto every word, was nearly bouncing with anticipation. "Until what?" The socialite asked.

"Until I spoke to her." A winded voice said; the voice nearly inaudible over the sound of the tinkling bell of the door.

Looking past Sarima, Glinda froze as she saw a form, doubled over and breathing heavily slowly straighten itself.

"Elphie?" Glinda swallowed as a flash of green came into view.

As soon as Elphaba caught her breath, she came closer to Glinda.

"You can't go." Elphaba echoed Sarima and her sister's earlier words.

"Elphie please don't do this…" Glinda begged. "All of this just makes it harder to leave."

"Then don't go!" Elphaba shouted, startling the other three women- for some reason, all of the salon worker, including the receptionist, had retreated into the back.

Glinda was shocked by Elphaba's outburst- not once in the time that the blonde ad known that verdant woman had she ever raised her voice. Elphaba was fiery, yes, but Glinda had never been on the receiving end of that fire and passion until now.

"Lurline needs you!" The usually calm woman burst out, her eyes flaming. "The team needs you!"

Elphaba eyes softened, and her voice dropped onto such a level that only Glinda could hear as the taller woman murmured "I need you."

"We all need you, Glinda." Sarima spoke, the first to do so after Elphaba besides the woman herself. "You're a lot more important to us- and the trial- than you think. If it's so hard for you to leave, then don't. Stay. But you have to come to the trial, because if you want to show everyone that you're not the woman who they think you are, it's the best place to do it."

"Maybe Fiyero and the others see a blonde who is sleeping her way to the top, but I see a woman who doesn't have to." Sarima finished.

"So please?" Nessa pleaded. "Please stay?"

"And come to the trial." Elphaba added on to her sister's request.

Yet again, the room fell silent, with Nessa, Sarima and Elphaba waiting with bated breath for Glinda's reaction.

Indeed, a moment later, they got their reaction- however, it wasn't the one they expected.

For tears had welled up in Glinda's eyes.

"Glinda?" Nessa asked, worried. "Are you okay?"

"No I'm not." Glinda sniffled, her voice tight and choked. "You're all just too… kind, and too...nice."

"So could…" Nessa spoke, wheeling her chair away from Glinda slowly for good measure.

"Could this mean you're going to the trial?"

"No." Glinda responded, absolutely crushing all the other girls.

"But Gli-"

"I'm not going dressed like I am now!" The blonde cried, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her dress. Though it was a nice dress, it was not appropriate for court- not like how Sarima's crisp dress suit or Elphaba's elegant yet serious dress was suited for the courtroom.

"Then… wear this."

From behind her back, Elphaba held out a bag and pulled out Glinda's navy blue dress suit.

"I stopped by your dorm before coming here and picked this up, as it was the only thing left in the room." Elphaba said quietly, almost embarrassed- perhaps she was, admitting she had gone to Glinda's room in hopes of finding her there, even though they both knew that the blonde was going to leave.

"It's yours. Take it." She offered it to Glinda, but Glinda took one look at it and pushed Elphaba's hands away.

"I don't want to touch it at the moment, Elphie." Glinda said to the taller woman. Elphaba looked disappointed for a moment, but Glinda patted her on the cheek and smiled.

"I said at the moment, Elphie. You hold onto it for now. I'll need it for the trial."

When Glinda's spoken confirmation sunk in, Sarima breathed a sigh of relief, as Nessa thanked her profusely. Elphaba, most surprisingly of all, stepped forward and pulled Glinda into the tightest hug the petite woman had ever felt.

"Thank you." Elphaba murmured into the blonde woman's ear.

Glinda smiled. Though she felt she was on the verge of crying (or suffocating as Elphaba was squeezing her rather hard), the blonde couldn't help but pull Elphaba even closer.

"Nobody in all of Oz, Elphie," Glinda whispered. "No Wizard that there is, or was, is ever going to bring me down. Not as long as I have people like you."

* * *

So. I hope that you're all enjoying New Years Eve. Or new Year, depending on where you are. I just want to say Happy Holidsays to you all. I wanted to get this out on the last day of 2009, you know? Im sory for the very, very very long delay. It was caused by 3 things- distractions, tons of assignments, and a bout of depression. But I'm working double time now, and the next chapter will be out sooner, yeah? So I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and that you will look forward to the next one.


	20. We Can't All Come and Go By Bubble

**We Can't All Come and Go by Bubble**

Disclaimer – I do not own Wicked. I do not own Legally Blonde. I do not own any characters mentioned in this fic.

* * *

It was only when the clock on the wall at the 'Wash & Brush Up co.' chime did all four women remember exactly what time it was.

Tearing herself away from the hug, Elphaba spun on her heel to look at the clock to make sure what she had heard was right. When the verdant woman saw the time, she nearly swore.

"This isn't good." She muttered. Sarima herself looked as well, and the Vinkus woman cringed.

"We're running late." She groaned.

"We should get going then, shouldn't we?" Glinda asked. "We need to catch a train, otherwise-"

"There _are_ no trains for us to catch." Sarima hissed, angrier at herself than at Glinda.

"Even if we did manage to catch one Glinda," Elphaba explained. "We wouldn't make it on time. From here to the Emerald City courthouses by train takes way too long, and we simple don't have that kind of time anymore."

Even Nessa was worried, her eyes wide as the rest of them spoke. "How are you going to make it in time?" She asked, biting her lip and gripping the arms of her chair so hard her knuckled turned white.

"If we took a carriage right now," Glinda suggested, "Maybe we could make it on time?"

Sarima shook her head. "The next carriage isn't due for another half an hour. Besides, carriages take even longer than trains. There's no possible way we can make it on time."

Glinda sighed. She knew that her idea wouldn't work- but it was worth a shot. Now however, everyone was out of ideas, and _that_ thought hurt everyone, weighing down upon their shoulder. Even worse, the close on the wall rang out, each tick echoing in the new near silent salon. Each movement of the second hand just reminded Glinda of every second passing by, counting down to the beginning to the trial.

The incessant noise was wearing down not only upon Glinda but Elphaba too as she rose her head and cast a hateful glare at the clock.

"This isn't _fair._" She growled, the familiar passionate fire lighting up in her eyes. "We can't miss the trial, not now. There has _to be some other way to get there."_

"There aren't any trains, Elphaba." Sarima groaned, voice muffled as she buried her face in her hands. "Nor are there any carriages. What do you expect us to do? Walk?"

The passionate fire simply burned brighter in Elphaba's eyes as a response to Sarima's words, but the lawyer merely kept her mouth shut. Letting out a deep sigh, she sat down in the chair across from Nessa's workspace, landing with an angry 'fwump'.

"It's too bad we can't fly." She laughed bitterly before falling silent.

Just about to murmur her agreement, Glinda froze suddenly, words caught in her throat. Slowly, she turned to look at Elphaba.

"What did you say Elphie?"

Bemused, Elphaba shifted in her seat and sat straighter to look at Glinda more easily. "It's too bad we can't fly?" She repeated, her tone note bitter this time but full of curiosity.

Though the spark of fire in Elphaba's eyes had gone out, that same passionate fire lit up in Glinda's eyes as an idea came to her mind and a smile came to her lips.

"Elphaba Thropp," Glinda beamed. "You are a _genius!"_

Listening in on what was going on around her; Sarima raised her face from her hands. Looking at her colleagues and Nessa, she caught sight of the fire.

"What do you mean, Glinda?"

The beaming blonde smiled even wider as she glanced at Fiyero's bride to be.

"I think that I know how we're going to get to the trial on time." Glinda giggled excitedly.

Casting a glance in Glinda's direction as well, Elphaba bit her lip. Though she trusted Glinda Upland with her entire being, she couldn't help but look first to her younger sister and then to Sarima before gulping and speaking.

"How?"

* * *

The blonde's laugh tinkled like a bell amongst the clouds as they soared high in the sky at a fast pace.

"I told you I knew a way!" She shouted to Sarima. The woman just nodded queasily, keeping her eyes shut as she stood behind Glinda, too afraid to do much else.

The blonde simply shrugged at the brunette's reaction and smiled to herself as she made the transparent sphere move faster.

"Hurry up Elphie!" She called out, looking behind herself and behind Sarima at her green skinned friend.

Behind her, Elphaba was perched upon a broomstick, one hand clutching on the handle of the broom urging it to go faster whilst the other was clamped firmly down on her head, keeping her hat in place as she flew.

"Why don't _you_ get on this broom instead? Then you can try to tell me to move faster." Elphaba muttered. It was impossible for Glinda to hear- she was too far away from Elphaba. Even past that, the blonde was absorbed in her own euphoria caused by her joy of having come up with a good idea the love of travelling by flight. It encased her and created a world of her own, a world represented by the bubble she was in.

When Glinda had told Sarima, Elphaba, and Nessa of her idea, all three of them couldn't help but doubt the tiny blonde. It wasn't until Glinda had conjured up her bubble (the same bubble she had created and earned perfect marks for during her final in her sorcery course) that they had all even considered travel by flight to be possible.

Of course, there were difficulties. As it turned out, Glinda had designed the bubble to support a maximum number of two people at a time. Though Nessa had suggested flying Sarima first to the court and then Elphaba, Elphaba had explained how it wasn't possible thanks to their time constrictions.

That was where the broom had come in.

When they had been trying to figure out a way to get past their predicament, a salon worker had come outside (where they had went) to sweep out the locks of hair that had fallen to the floor. Looking at the odd group and seeing that Nessa was amongst them, the worker had requested that Nessa bring it in later once she was finished.

"Of course." Nessa had nodded. Taking the broom, she had balanced it over the arms of her chair. As she had rolled back to them, the broom shifted, and Glinda, looking at it, had been struck by another stroke of genius.

Taking the broom and sweeping off the stray bits of hair, she had held it in her hands. Closing her eyes and concentrating, she had begun to chant quietly under her breath as both Thropp sisters and Sarima watched on, both fascinated and confused. As Glinda had recited the mantra, she loosened her grip on the broom handle. Expecting a sudden clatter on the ground, Elphaba Sarima and Nessa were stunned as the broom stayed hovering in mid air.

Elphaba, first to recover from shock, was also the first one to reach out and lay her hands on the broom.

The moment her emerald green fingertips had touched the wooden handle, the broom had ceased to levitate. It had dropped into her hand and had she and the others not have known better, they would have assumed that it was a normal, plain old broom.

Smiling at the success of her spell work, Glinda once again conjured her bubble (which she had made vanish previously as she hadn't wanted any of the people on the street gaping just yet). Taking Sarima with her, Glinda had risen up higher and higher until she was floating above the roof of the 'Wash and Brush Up Co.'

"Hurry Elphie!" Glinda had called, looking down at her green friend, who had stood immobile as she looked up at them with the broom still in her hands.

Elphaba had slid her gaze down to the broom in her hands. Taking a deep breath, she had set the broom so its end was touching the ground. Slowly, Elphaba had straddled the broom. With a deep breath, The green girl had kicked off from the ground...

And was met with a sudden rush of air and a feeling of weightlessness as the broom bolted up from the ground and into the sky.

Elphaba had been surprised by her sudden take off and fought to slow down. With a little bit of effort but a great deal of pulling and fumbling with the handle, the verdant woman had managed to stop and turn around.

Glinda, who had been observing Elphaba on the broom, had laughed at the usually stoic woman's startled expression.

"Ready to go Elphie?" She had asked, sounding impossibly bubbly. Elphaba, with her hands tight on the handle, gasped for the breath that had been robbed from her during takeoff before nodding.

Gazing downwards, Glinda had smiled down at Nessa. "We'll be seeing you soon!"

Nessa, though awestruck by what she had just witnessed, had managed to form a response. "I'll come to the trial if I can!" She had shouted. "I'll board the next train!"

"Goodbye!" Glinda had laughed, waving farewell to her friend before commanding her bubble forwards, motioning to Elphaba to follow along.

And that had led them to where they were now- in between the clouds, travelling to the Emerald City.

Looking past Sarima's cowering form once again and back to Elphaba, Glinda held a finger up, signalling to Elphaba to give her a moment. Turning forwards, Glinda dipped the bubble down past the clouds. She was protected; Elphaba wasn't. Had Elphaba gone through them, she would have ended up soaking wet. The only way Elphaba had managed to get past the condensation level anyways was because they had gone above where there were no clouds.

Breaking through the haze of white around her, Glinda glanced downwards. The golden colour of the yellow brick road glittered up at her, the bright sun's rays reached through the clouds to touch the dandelion coloured road. Mentally, Glinda pictured a map of Shiz and the location of Shiz on it.

"Shiz is north of the Emerald City, right?" She asked Sarima. The brunette, with her eyes still squeezed shut, nodded and croaked out a "Yes."

Thinking about how she had been pushing the bubble at a _very_ fast pace, and how they had been travelling for almost an hour now, Glinda had a better sense of where they were. As well as that, the scenery down below was beginning to change. Previously, it had been small town past small town. Now however, there were bigger towns, few towns in between, but bigger, and the lustrous green shine the aptly named Emerald City constantly produced was becoming visible in the distance, the peaks of the tallest towers in sight.

Ascending through the clouds again, Glinda came up to see Elphaba now beside her instead of behind.

"Well?" The green woman asked.

"We'll be there soon," Glinda promised. "I would say maybe another half hour more. I can see the green glow."

Glinda watched Elphaba's face and saw the gears practically turning in the verdant woman's head as she did mental calculations.

"We will be pushing time, Glinda." Elphaba said grimly, her lips thinning into a straight line as the answer came to her mind. "We'll be just pushing it if we manage to get to the city at the rate we're going at right now."

Glinda bit her lip and cursed their lack of luck. Pushing it wasn't good at all. They needed to get there quick; as quickly as possible.

Suddenly, a gleam appeared in Glinda's eye. Slowly, the blonde turned her head and looked at Elphaba, her lips quirking into a playful smile.

"Elphie?" She sang sweetly.

Elphaba's grim expression turned into one of curiosity.

"Yes?"

"How do you feel about a race?"

There was silence, the only sounds coming from the rushing winds that both women pushed against.

Then, without warning, a smirk grew on Elphaba's face. As the smirk spread, Elphaba cocked the brim of her pointed hat down, and looked at Glinda.

"You're on."

Elphaba shot off on her broom passed Glinda, and Glinda laughed and sped up even more, despite the loud whimpers of protest from Sarima.

As the two women raced, Glinda thought and thought. By the end of their race, the blonde could not come up with any other way to describe the look on Elphaba's face (the one she had when she agreed to the race and the one she had worn for the rest of it) except for one single word.

Wicked.

* * *

The reporter from the newspaper nervously checked his pockets to make sure that he still had his notepad and pen on him. It would be a catastrophe if he lost them, as it was less than ten minutes to the trial. With so many other reporters for other newspapers around, he needed to be sharp. He needed to keep his eyes and his ears open; every detail he could recount that the others could not meant four things: more respect, more readers, more chances for a promotion, and most of all, more _money._

This was why it was good that he was the only reporter outside; he had stopped for a breath of fresh air to steady his nerved when he looked into the sky and saw something.

At first, he couldn't believe his eyes. He blinked, rubbed each eye vigorously, and looked back.

There it was still.

A bubble, floating down from the sky, two figures inside of it, growing larger with each passing minute...and a green and black smear riding on a broom, descending and growing just as rapidly as the bubble.

Looking around for anyone else, he saw that there was no one around him. The trial was going to start soon but he didn't care much as all his attention was upon the bubble and the broom.

Eventually, the bubble touched down to the ground and the woman who seemed to be controlling it (a petite blonde holding a bag under one arm) stepped out, popping it. A woman who was hunched over behind her, looking rather pale and frightened, cracked open one eye, breathed a sigh of relief, and stood straight. A second later the woman on the broom touched down beside them. Getting off of it, she looked at the reporter and asked him curtly "Which room is the Lurline trial taking place in?"

"S-same as before." He stammered, unaware his mouth had even formed words; his brain surely hadn't for he was fixated on the fact that the woman who had spoken was green as grass.

The green woman nodded before motioning to the blonde and the quivering brunette to hurry inside. The three rushed in, leaving the journalist behind slack-jawed with wide eyes.

Turning around, he went through the same door the three girls had just went through moments ago, expression unchanging.

'_I don't know why, ´ _He thought to himself, '_But I've got a feeling that somehow, this trial is about to get a __**lot**__ more interesting.'_

_

* * *

_

"Lurline!"

The sorceress turned at the call of her name. The Wizard, standing close to her, didn't seem to notice; either that, or she didn't care that someone wanted to talk to her at all.

She suspected the latter.

Rushing across the lobby, guard at her arm, Lurline turned back to look at who had called her. Seeing Sarima's face, she couldn't help but cock her head quizzically- what did Sarima want to speak to her for? The woman had spoken barely a word to her that didn't have to do with the case.

"What's wrong?" The so called faerie queen questioned, confusion evident in her eyes as she spoke. "What's the matter?"

The blonde's voice rose, yet still, the Wizard did not look up to see what the entire ruckus was about. Turning her head to look at him, Lurline glared momentarily before turning back to face Sarima.

"Clearly, the only thing wrong here is the Wizard." A look of disgust briefly crossed Sarima's face.

Lurline laughed softly. "I never thought I'd hear any of you interns say that." Her lips quirked into a smile. "Except maybe Glinda, but even then, she wouldn't be as harsh."

"Speaking of Glinda..." Lurline looked around the lobby. When she did not spot her former pupil, the smile on her face faded partially. "Where is she?"

"That's what I wanted to speak to you about." Sarima's mouth remained a thin, flat line as she spoke. If anything, it only became thinner as the brunette's eyes wandered over to the Wizard's face; he had not noticed yet that Lurline had managed to make her way to the other side of the lobby. "Last night, something happened. I won't go into the details, but the Wizard fired Glinda for the fact that she refused his.... advances."

"What!?" Lurline gasped. This _couldn't_ be true. Glinda was her last chance- and now, she had been fired only because she did not give into to his lust? A wave of fury washed over the sorceress, but it ebbed and was replaced by despair. What was going to happen now?

"She was going to leave and return to Gillikin today." Sarima told Lurline. "But she didn't. She decided to stay, and she came to the trial today. She can still help you."

"How?" Lurline asked. "You said that the Wizard fired her. There's no way that-"

"There is _one_ way." Sarima cut her off. Staring directly into Lurline's eyes, Sarima said slowly "Just one way she can help you."

Eyeing the Wizard with distaste yet again, Sarima beckoned the defendant closer. Once Lurline was close enough, the Vinkus woman leaned in and whispered the plan into her ear.

"Would you be willing to go along with it" Sarima asked once she had finished explaining.

Lurline was silent, eyes downcast, as she contemplated the idea that had been given to her as Sarima watched on. Though on the outside she was the picture of calm and confident, on the inside Fiyero's bride-to-be was nervous. What if Lurline said no? Then everything would come crashing down.

As if she was able to read the other woman's thoughts, Lurline's eyes snapped upwards. With her gaze locked onto Sarima's faze, Lurline opened her mouth and uttered but one word.

"Yes."

Sarima couldn't help letting her thin line of a mouth curve into a relieved smile.

"I'll go and tell Glinda." The brunette whispered. Turning about, she _ran_ out of sight. Just as she ran out, the bailiff took her by the arm, heading inside early, the Wizard sauntered over to his seat and sat down, laying his briefcase on his desk without a care in the world.

'_He'll have something to care about soon.'_ Lurline thought, a smile once again gracing her face as she was marched in. '_He'll have something to care about much sooner than he thinks.'_

Her smile remained on her face as she came through the court and closer to the defence's side. In fact, her smile grew even wider and more dazzling- so much that the Wizard couldn't help but notice as Lurline reached her spot by the desk.

"What are you smiling about?" He asked, regarding her suspiciously. "You could go to jail at any time."

"Actually," She chirped brightly. "I won't. I definitely won't, considering who I have representing me."

The Wizard smirked; he never could resist a compliment and a chance to pump up his own ego. "Well, I am the best-"

"Who said I was talking about _you?"_ Lurline cut him off, laughing and smiling.

"Get up. You're fired."

The smirk on the Wizard's face disappeared with those four words.

"_**What!?"**_

Though Lurline was by no means a vengeful, hating, mean person, she couldn't help but savour the look of utter dumbfounded disbelief on the Wizard's face as the words sunk in.

"Get up." Lurline repeated, grinning. "I've hired another person to represent me."

"Who the _hell_ is taking my place then!?" The Wizard seethed, hands clenching into white-knuckled fists.

The door opened with a dramatic bang. As if in slow motion, row by row, every person turned back to see who was coming in.

There, in all her glory, stood Glinda, clad in a hot pink dress suit.

Heels clicking, the sound echoed around the silent room. Glinda strode in, curls bouncing, a smile on her face. Behind her was Elphaba, carrying a small but thick book in her hands.

Confidently, Glinda strode in, straight up to the judge's stand.

"I'm Glinda Upland, Your Honour." Glinda said to the judge and court with a dazzling smile. "And I will be Lurline's defence attorney."


	21. Take the Stand

**Take the Stand **

Disclaimer - I do not own Elphaba, Glinda, the Wizard, or any other character mentioned in this fic. I do not own Wicked, and I do not own Legally Blonde.

* * *

When the Wizard saw that it was Glinda who was taking his place as Lurline's lawyer, he was shocked. However, that wore off quickly and was even more quickly replaced by his previous anger... increased tenfold.

"You." He said quietly, his voice filled with cold fury.

Whereas before, Glinda would have been terrified by the Wizard's anger and the icy and dangerous glint in his eyes the former intern simply stared back at him in defiance. The Wizard was _not_ going to intimidate her anymore.

"It's good to see me, isn't it?" Glinda giggled, batting her eyelashes at the Wizard. Though she was the picture of innocence, her eyes said otherwise- she was giving the Wizard a challenging gaze.

Seeing Glinda's almost taunting look, the Wizard's anger increased even further. So angry he was almost seeing red, the Wizard felt an intense urge to yell at her. However, the fact they were standing in a court of law was not lost on him. Forced to fume silently, the Wizard felt his face go red, and his teeth clench together.

"Miss Upland," He began carefully. "I-"

"Oh, there's no need to respond!" Glinda laughed airily.

"That was rhetorical."

With a cheeky wink from Glinda (and a laugh poorly disguised as a cough from Lurline), the Wizard was seething. He turned to the judge and cleared his throat to protest.

"Your Honour, she's only a student. She _cannot_ be allowed to defend the...defendant."

The judge gazed at him with unconvinced eyes, and the Wizard slumped a little bit- perhaps it was his lacklustre finish to his sentence that had caused him to fail in impressing the judge.

"Actually Your Honour..." Glinda motioned to Elphaba, who handed her the small black book that was cradled in her green hands. Opening it up to a dog eared page, Glinda strode up to the judge's stand and held out the book for her to take.

"Here, Your Honour," Glinda pointed out. "It states that a law student is able to represent a defendant in criminal proceedings so long as-"

"-So long as she is supervised by a _licensed attorney_." The Wizard interrupted rudely, a gleam appearing in his eyes as he recalled the conditions of the rule.

Turning his eyes upon Glinda, his mouth twisted into a smug smile. "I refuse to supervise Glinda Upland, Your Honour."

"He might not, but I will."

Whirling around, the Wizard stared as Elphaba stepped forward, face stoic, and went up to the judge's stand. As the green woman passed by the Wizard, the man gaped- he had completely forgotten about her.

"I'll supervise Miss Upland, Your Honour." Elphaba told the judge. "I'm a licensed attorney."

The judge nodded and Elphaba looked to her side, where Glinda flashed a brilliant smile. A small grin worked its way across Elphaba's visage as she smiled back at Glinda. Her smile disappeared however as the green woman felt a hand grab her arm and spin her around.

"What are you _**doing!?**_" The Wizard hissed with his eyes wild. "You can't supervise her!"

The professor pulled Elphaba in closer to him – not close enough to rouse suspicion from watchful eyes, but close enough so that no one else would be able to hear what he was saying to her. "You work for _me, _Elphaba, and I forbid you from supervising her. If you do, you can just banish any thought you've ever had of becoming an associate."

"Too long I've been afraid of losing your approval, sir." Elphaba said slowly as she stared into his eyes. "But if siding with you is what it takes, then your approval comes at much too high a cost."

With a single powerful motion, Elphaba wrenched her arm out of the Wizard's grasp, breaking his hold on her both literally and figuratively.

"I work for _myself_, sir." The verdant woman said coldly to her former mentor. "Not for a man who preys on his interns and fires them for the sole fact that they have the self respect and dignity to _not_ give in to his advances."

Shooting him one last gaze of icy cold fire, Elphaba turned and nodded to Glinda. Though Glinda had not heard a word between the two, the blonde smiled proudly at Elphaba, knowing without a word what had happened.

The moment was broken as the judge shoot the rulebook closed with a snap after she finished reading the portion Glinda had singled out.

"I see no problem with letting Miss Upland represent the defendant." She announced. Turning her eyes upon Lurline, she threw the sorceress a questioning glance. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Absolutely." Lurline responded, a smile on her face, complete confidence in her eyes. "This is who I want representing me, Your Honour."

"Does the prosecution have anything to say?" The judge asked, looking at the other side of the room.

Looking at the prosecutor, Glinda immediately wished that she hadn't. Her stomach churned suddenly as she saw the delighted, broad grin on the other woman's face; she was smiling ear to ear, as though she was a child who had just received everything she had ever wanted on her birthday.

"The prosecution has no problems with allowing the student to represent the defendant, Your Honour." She said to the judge, practically buzzing with glee and excitement.

"If that is all then, I'd like to begin." The judge said. Picking up her gavel, she banged it against the desk in front of her. After calling court back into session, the prosecutor stood and began to speak.

"Your Honour," She began. "We've gone through several witnesses throughout the course of this trial. The testimonies have been revealing, but none so much as my next witness' testimony. The prosecution calls the next witness to the stand!"

The doors on one side of the courtroom creaked open, and a large, looming figure entered the room.

Glinda blinked.

A single thought ran through her mind.

'_I didn't know Fish could walk.'_

As the witness came more into sight, Glinda saw it was not a Fish who had entered the room, nor any Animal whatsoever. It was a woman- a woman wearing a ridiculously large bottomed sparkling green dress that looked just like a Fish's scales. Her cheeks, covered in bright powder and the large, bright and dark eyes simply added to her inhuman appearance.

However, it was not the large woman's oddly Fish-like appearance that surprised Glinda- what surprised her was that the woman's skin was wrinkling, and that the hair that was piled atop her head was a pale greying blonde, giving it a nearly snow white colour.

The grand woman sashayed across the courtroom; chin and face held up high and proud as she came to the witness' stand and took her place.

"Your name?" The prosecutor asked the woman, smiling easily.

"You may call me Madame Morrible." The woman announced in a loud, booming voice that filled the courtroom. From accent alone (not to mention the way she carried herself and spoke) Glinda could tell that Madame Morrible was every bit the Madame she called herself.

The judge glanced at Madame Morrible and made a strange face at the witness' eccentric introduction, but nodded for the prosecutor to go on.

The prosecutor faced Madame Morrible as she began to speak. "What is your line of work, Madame Morrible?"

"I am the headmistress of a fine ladies school." The Fishlike woman announced. "I teach a few privileged students myself- I teach them magic. The other young women who attend my school are taught by the other teachers."

'_A headmistress of a school?' _Glinda mused. '_At least that explains the grand behaviour and voice.'_

"Could you tell us how you are related to the defendant, Madame Morrible?" The prosecutor questioned.

"I am her..." Madame Morrible paused to rake her eyes over Lurline's stunned face.

"Step-daughter." She finished, her words tinged with obvious distaste. "I was born while my father was young, around his twenties. Lurline married my father a few years ago, during my fortieth year."

'_FORTY!?'_ Glinda's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. The headmistress, with her pale and ridiculously made up face and her out of date clothing could have passed off as much older than forty.

"Is she really?" The blonde heard a voice ask questioningly. Normally, she would have ignored the whisper but her attention was caught as she felt a poke at her back. Glancing behind her, Glinda saw a man pointing further back behind him, to three girls sitting close together staring quizzically at the witness.

It was more their wondrous stares than their facial features that helped Glinda recognize them as Milla, Pfannee and Shenshen.

"Glinda!" Shenshen called, not even bothering to hush her voice now that the blonde was looking at her. "Is that old bag really only-?"

"ORDER!" The judge yelled, quelling the noise that had risen as a response to Madame Morrible revealing her true age.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Glinda leaned over to whisper to her client. "Is she _really_ that old, Lurline?"

Lurline nodded. "My late husband was in his sixties. Her age would make sense."

"Sixties?" Glinda blinked.

Lurline nodded, flushing the tiniest bit as she responded. "It sounds crazy; really, the age difference between us, but what we had was genuine. I loved my husband, even if he was almost twice my age... but a lot of people don't believe that."

"People do say love is blind though, right?" Glinda pointed out. She was about to go no more, but the judge finally had the court back under her control.

"Madam Morrible." The prosecutor spoke once more. "Could you tell us what you saw on the day of your father's murder?"

"Certainly." Madame Morrible replied cordially. "I came into the house, bathed, and came down the stairs, where I saw Lurline over my father's body."

"Thank you Madame." The prosecutor finished before turning to the judge. "The prosecution rests, Your Honour."

Before heading to her seat, the prosecutor threw once last glance at the judge. Though Lurline couldn't see the prosecutor's face, Glinda clearly could. The look was cocky, smug and clearly the prosecutor was reminding the judge of exactly how solid Morrible's testimony seemed to be.

'_There are cracks in her testimony.'_ Glinda reminded herself as the judge nodded at her to begin her cross examination. '_Find the cracks and we find the truth.'_

"Before I begin," Glinda said with her voice so much stronger than how she actually felt on the inside, "I would like to remind you, Your Honour, of _mens rea_- there can be no crime without a vicious will."

"I know what _mens rea_ is, miss Upland." The judge replied. She raised an eyebrow at the blonde. "My question for you is _why_ you are questioning my knowledge and not the witness'."

There was a chuckle from somewhere in the sea of courtroom faces, and Glinda knew that the Wizard was the one who had laughed.

'_Even before I begin my line of questioning I'm not in the judge's good graces.' _Glinda moaned mentally.

Still, the blonde student kept her chin up. Forcing herself not to show a sign of weakness, Glinda nodded and turned to Madame Morrible, who was regarding her with a condescending smile.

"Madame Morrible, could you tell me what you did on the day of the murder?"

Glinda winced at the tremble in her voice. '_Sweet Oz, already?'_

The headmistress seemed much more amused with Glinda's slip than Glinda was. "Certainly, Miss Upland."

"I woke up in my private quarters at the school, of course." The large woman said crisply in clipped yet booming tones. "After taking my breakfast, I proceeded to attend to my duties as headmistress. That lasted me through the day, until the school day ended. From then, I hailed a carriage to take me home. However, on my way back to my father's house, I spotted a salon. Thinking myself needing another treatment and wash-"

Here, Morrible patted her outrageous tower of hair lovingly (much to the chagrin of the aesthetic loving Glinda, Shenshen, Milla and Pfannee), before continuing her testimony.

"I entered the salon and received my usual hair treatment, then came to my father's house. I bathed then changed my garments. When I went down the stairs to the main floor, I was relaxed and calm. All until..."

The witness swallowed harshly, pressing her hand against her breastbone in a melodramatic manner, gasping as if she was about to faint.

"...Until I saw Lurline, huddled over my father's body, drenched in his blood!"

A ripple of murmurs swept through the courtroom, but was quickly settled by a few pounds of the judge's gavel. Soon, only the sound of the reporter and the court scribe's pencils scratching against paper remained as both parties wrote down the new details that Madame Morrible had given them.

"Miss Upland, you may continue with your questioning." The judge told the young blonde. Though Glinda was now armed with new knowledge, she still had no idea where to begin and that though frightened her. Feeling an imminent wave of panic arising, the blonde shut her eyes closed tight.

'_You can do this.'_ A familiar voice whispered to her, coming from the depths of her brain. '_If anyone can do this, it's you. You promised Lurline, and an Upland never breaks her promise.'_

Opening her eyes, Glinda exhaled and steeled her resolve as best as she could.

"Madame Morrible," Glinda said. "Did you see the defendant with a gun in her hand?"

The snowy haired woman's mouth tightened.

"I did not." The headmistress replied. "However, considering the time that had gone by while I bathed, she had plenty of time to magick away the weapon."

"So you took a shower and then you saw the body?" Glinda asked uneasily, at a loss for what to do."

"Yes, I did."

"You took a shower before seeing the body?"

"Yes, I did."

"You saw the body after being in the shower?"

"I think that we've established that the defendant showered upon the day of the murder, Miss Upland." The judge said, peering down at the young law student from her post. Another ripple, this one of laughter, swept through the court before quieting quickly.

Face flushed with embarrassment from the judge's reprimand, Glinda turned to the defence's desk. Looking at Elphaba, Glinda sent her a look of worry , a gaze that clearly stated without words that the young blonde wasn't sure she was up to the task at hand.

Elphaba, sitting beside Lurline, just shook her head; not to bring her down, but instead to bring down her fears. The familiar fire was in Elphaba's eyes, burning into Glinda. They stated one thing; one thing that Elphaba's lips were mouthing as well.

"Don't give up."

Swallowing, Glinda felt a little calmer. Turning back to the witness (who was looking rather bored and pompous at the stand) Glinda cleared her throat to speak.

"Madame Morrible," Glinda began. "Could you go into a little more detail about what happened before you saw the defendant standing over the victim?"

Raising an eyebrow, Madame Morrible simply nodded her consent.

"After receiving my hair treatment, I hailed a carriage to my father's home. When I came in, I realized that no one seemed to be around. I decided to go and bathe. When I came to the washroom however, I realized something was wrong. Taking a look in the mirror, I realized that a magical glamour of sorts had been put on me to 'dye' my eyes a different colour. Seeing as the glamour had nearly taken full effect, I decided to reverse it. It took me a while though; my speciality in sorcery is weather and such, not aesthetics."

'_That's for sure.'_ Glinda couldn't help but think to herself, eyeing Morrible's blinding dress, makeup caked face, and the tortured pile of curls sitting upon her haughty head and face.

"Anyways, it took me a while to reverse the spell." Morrible continued after a pausing to take a breath. "Once it was reversed I bathed and then changed before coming down the stairs. The rest, we can say, is obvious."

Listening to the testimony intently, Glinda froze.

'_Did she just...?'_

Turning to the court scribe (who had been listening and writing intently the entire time) Glinda smiled at the young man.

"Would the court scribe read that back, please?"

Glancing upwards, the young man cleared his throat and dutifully read Madame Morrible's testimony back to the law student.

Once he finished, Glinda could not believe her ears, or her eyes.

Neither could the rest of the court as Glinda Upland took a step away from the stenographer...

...And began to laugh.

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I feel guilty for my lack of updates :(

I'm sorry about that. Anyways, nice long chapter for you if you're still reading. Consider it my apology.


	22. Reeling in the Fish

**Reeling in the Fish**

A/N – Really, the amount of time it took me to get this written and up is despicable. I'm sincerely sorry everyone. Truth is, I lost inspiration for the story- however, after seeing Legally Blonde: The Musical, I've regained my inspiration and am going to finish up.

Disclaimer – I own no characters. I do not own Wicked, I do not own Legally Blonde.

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The sound of whispers began to ring through the court.

"What's wrong with her?" One person murmured, eyeing Glinda uneasily.

"She's gone off the deep end, that's what."

"Maybe the stress has gotten to her?"

"Pity if she has, she's so young and beautiful."

Despite the murmurs of the court questioning her sanity, Glinda was completely in her right mind. She had not gone insane due to pressure or to stress.

In fact, stress and pressure was exactly what she lacked.

In fact, Glinda was laughing because of _luck_.

The young blonde couldn't believe her luck herself.

"Miss Upland?" The judge asked, peering over the edge of her desk to frown down upon the young law student.

"Y-yes, Your Honour?" Glinda giggled, trying (and failing) to stifle her laughter.

"Are you going to let us in on this little joke that's making you laugh so much, or will I have to get medical attention for you?" The judge quipped, arching an eyebrow.

"N-no, Your Honour." Glinda managed to say with but a smile and a slight quiver in her voice. "I'm fine."

'As fine as you may be Miss Upland, I think that this is the perfect time to take a ten minute recess." The judge announced. About to slam her gavel upon the stand, Glinda held up her hand.

"I have a few more questions for the witness Your Honour." Glinda chirped brightly, mastering her giggles at last.

The judge stared at Glinda again. "Miss Upland-"

"Your Honour, it's crucial, and it will only take a few more minutes." Glinda interrupted. Behind her, Elphaba and Lurline exchanged quizzical glances. They both weren't sure of their younger friend's intentions. Even Elphaba, who was usually two or three steps ahead of everyone else, had no idea what Glinda was up to.

After pausing for a moment to consider the options, the judge nodded to herself about something. As she placed her gavel back onto her desk, Glinda heard a door open. Thinking that it was simply a court-goer who hadn't heard the judge's words, Glinda didn't bother to look as she was too giddy about her revelation.

That is, until a sudden _'Glinda!'_ caught her attention.

Glancing back at whoever was calling her name, Glinda saw Nessa being pushed in by none other than Boq.

"_I told you I would make it!" _The younger Thropp sibling mouthed to the law student. Glinda, in turn, beamed widely.

Looking past her younger friend, Glinda smiled to Boq, who cheerfully waved back. As he turned away to look for a seat, Glinda glanced back at Nessa. As Glinda motioned between Boq and Nessa herself, the wheelchair-bound woman could only blush and smile.

"Miss Upland?"

Whirling back around, Glinda felt her face flush almost instantaneously; the judge was staring at her, an eyebrow arched.

"I've yet to _announce_ my decision." The judge reminded sternly, her gavel back in her hand.

"Of course, Your Honour." Glinda stammered, flushing even further- something the woman herself hadn't even thought possible.

Nodding once more, the judge banged her gavel on her stand. "Court will proceed." She announced finally. "Now for your explanation please Miss Upland?"

"Right!" Glinda exclaimed, the blood draining from her cheeks as she cleared her throat.

"Madame Morrible." Glinda began. Simultaneously, many members of the court craned their necks forward, itching to hear what Glinda had to say.

"How long have you been practicing sorcery?"

"About half of my life," Madame Morrible sniffed, eyeing Glinda haughtily- perhaps it was some form of retaliation against Glinda's somehow offensive question. "I began to study the basics as a young woman. I received my degrees and have been practicing ever since."

"I see." Glinda said, blonde curls bouncing as she nodded her head. "And as well, Madame, could you repeat for us what field of sorcery you specialize in?"

"Weather." Madame Morrible boomed pompously, her violently red lips twisting into a smug smile. "The hardest of all magics to master."

"I see." Glinda repeatedly mysteriously.

Madame Morrible's eyes narrowed in suspicion as she watched the young blonde carefully. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, just out of curiosity, Madame." Glinda smiled charmingly."As well, Madame, have you ever heard of the Great Gillikin Glamour?"

Madame Morrible's eyes were narrowed before in suspicion, but that suspicion changed to confusion as Glinda asked her question.

"Excuse me?"

"It's a _very_ special contest that takes place in Gillikin." Glinda said, explaining the contest to not only Madame Morrible but to the rest of the court as well. "It's open to any members of sororities in Gillikin. More specifically than that, it's only open to those in sororities who are studying _sorcery_."

The aim of the entire contest is to see which sorority has the best sorceresses by seeing which team of sorceresses casts the best glamour spell. Last year, _my_ sorority came in first place, but not without a cost. You see, in my sorority, I had a sister who we shall refer to as Miss Greyling. Young Miss Greyling was participating-"

"Objection, Your Honour." The prosecutor interrupted. She stood up and glared at the judge, clearly irritated. "If I may ask, what does this have to do with anything?"

"Your Honour, I have a point to all this!" Glinda protested, frowning at being cut off.

The judge sighed loudly. "If you do, Miss Upland, I suggest you _please_ get to it."

"Of course." Glinda apologized, turning back to Madame Morrible, who was looking extremely confused herself.

"Anyways," Glinda started again. "When Miss Greyling cast her spell, she forgot to focus her thoughts upon the subject, and instead focused upon herself. Within a half hour, perhaps a little more than that, her eyes were green, whereas before, they were brown."

"So?" Madame Morrible asked.

"She tried to reverse the spell, Madame." Glinda continued. "Yet nothing happened. _Why_ is that?"

"It wasn't _possible_ for her to reverse the spell." Madame Morrible laughed, her laughter ringing around the courtroom. "Your friend was clearly a poor sorceress."

"Why do you say that, Madame Morrible?" Glinda asked innocently.

"She obviously forgot the cardinal rule of sorcery." The headmistress snorted incredulously.

"And that is? Please tell the court."Glinda pressed.

"You cannot reverse a spell once it has been cast."

And with those ten words, Glinda thought inwardly.

'_Just like I thought she'd say.'_

"Exactly, Madame Morrible." Glinda smiled, this time speaking outwardly.

All of the court watched as Madame Morrible blinked, puzzled, the smarmy smile that had spread on her face melting away faster than an icicle on a hot summer's day.

"Miss Greyling _couldn't_ reverse the spell, as it was simply not possible for her to." Glinda told everyone. "Like Madame Morrible said, you can't reverse a spell once it has been cast."

"So!" Madame Morrible barked again, her lip curling back from her teeth in a snarl, suspicion growing in her eyes. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Contrary to what you believe, Madame, _that_ has to do with everything." Glinda sang out sweetly.

"You see, the principle law of sorcery is that a spell cannot be reversed once it has been cast. This rule applies to all forms of magic, from weather to glamour. However, Madame Morrible seems to be the first person to have ever cast a spell that has gone against this rule."

"As much as a _gifted_ sorceress I am, Miss Upland, I have done no such thing." Madame Morrible sniffed.

"You've testified otherwise though, Madame." Glinda pointed out, the sweet smile remaining in place on her face. The young blonde turned to the court scribe again. "Could you please read that last section over one time?"

Nodding, the young man flipped to the mentioned part again, cleared his throat, and began to red in a clear and loud voice.

"I...I realized that a magical glamour of sorts has been put on me to _'_dye' my eyes a different colour, if you will. Seeing as the glamour had nearly taken full effect, I decided to reverse it."

The young man paused to take a breath at this point, and while he did another murmur raced through the court. Glancing at Madame Morrible, Glinda noticed that the older sorceress had become paler, obvious even underneath all of the white face powder and make up. She was biting her bottom lip, the harlot red lipstick marking her teeth, but Madame Morrible paid no mind. Instead, she paid attention to the court goers as her eyes flicked nervously around the room.

"As said earlier though," The scribe continued. "My speciality in sorcery is weather, not aesthetics, so it took me a while."

"And that there is _another _contradiction." Glinda pointed out. "Reversing it took you a _while_. Madame Morrible, if you cannot reverse a spell once it has been cast, how could it have taken you a while to reverse?"

"I.. well-" Madame Morrible faltered.

"It couldn't have." Glinda interrupted. "It couldn't have taken you a while to reverse."

Finally, that sugary sweet smile on Glinda's face began to drop, revealing a look that no one had ever seen before- a look that was dead serious and intent, with calculating eyes and an aura of determination.

"Since it was not possible for you to reverse the spell, there is a huge amount of unaccounted time now." The blonde said. "What were you doing during that time, Madame Morrible? Can you please tell us?"

"I.." Madame Morrible swallowed. "I... I was-"

"You had plenty of time on your hands, Madame." Glinda interrupted again. Slowly, the woman drew closer to the witness' stand, her eyes locking onto the witness'. "_Plenty_ of time for yourself, yet you can't think of anything you could have been doing?"

Madame Morrible was beginning to sound like a broken record as she repeated again "I... I was-"

"You might not be able to think of something you were doing Madame, but I can." Glinda announced, her eyes flashing and piercing straight into those of the hefty older woman. "You were trying to figure out how you could get rid of all of the evidence that pointed towards you, weren't you Madame Morrible?"

"I-"The Fish-woman's breath caught in her throat. A bead of sweat rolled down her temple, marring her perfect white face makeup.

"**You** had plenty of time to hide he weapon and wash the blood off of yourself, didn't you? _**You**_ had plenty of time to set everything up so it looked as if _Lurline_ had been the one to kill him!" Glinda pointed an accusatory finger at Madame Morrible as she spoke.

"Lurline is **half** my age!" Madame Morrible bellowed suddenly. She lurched forward in her seat, her wrinkled hands slamming onto the wood of the witness stand, gripping onto the edges of it until her fingertips were as white as the powder on her face. "She could be my _daughter_! Don't you realize that?"

Even through Madame Morrible's yell, Glinda stood strong, her finger still outstretched as she continued on relentlessly. "Why did you lie about reversing the spell Madame Morrible? Why did you frame Lurline for your crime? _Why did you kill your father!"_

"**I DIDN'T MEAN TO KILL MY FATHER!"** Madame Morrible roared, her face mottled and red with fury, her eyes wild with anger. With her teeth bared, the once aristocratic woman looked like a ferocious, dangerous animal.

With eyes wide open, Madame Morrible outstretched a finger, pointed it to Lurline, and screamed-

"**WHEN I SHOT THAT GUN, I THOUGHT THAT IT WAS **_**YOU**_** WALKING THROUGH THAT DOOR!"**


	23. Happy is What Happens

**Happy is What Happens When All Your Dreams Come True**

Disclaimer - I do not own Glinda, Elphaba or any Wicked characters. I do not own WIcked. I do not own Legally Blonde.

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The courtroom was quiet, each person stunned into silence by Madame Morrible's outburst. The only sounds that could be heard were coming from the woman herself.

Body still lurched forward, breathing still rough and harsh, face still a mottled red with anger, Madame Morrible was still glaring at Glinda with such loathing and anger that one would think that the young lawyer would burn up in the Fish-like woman's gaze.

Yet instead of Glinda's spontaneous combustion as the elder woman had prayed for, Morrible received only silence.

And in that silence did the murderer realize what she had done.

One by one, the court spectators broke out of their reverie. The reporter's pens touched paper, the spectator's amazed words began to cross the courtroom, the judge's gavel slammed her desk and the bailiff's heavy arm curled around Madame Morrible's as he pulled her into a tight, rigid hold. Madame Morrible did not complain as the bailiff grabbed her roughly; instead, she simply let out an odd, choked noise as her face turned whiter than the powder she had covered her skin in.

"Lurline," The judge called, her own voice sounding far away and detached as she was still coming to terms with what had just happened. "You are hereby declared not guilty and cleared of all charges."

With that done, the judge tried to shake away her disbelief by vigorously moving her head side to side. Clearing her throat and letting the stern look come upon her face again, the judge slammed her gavel once more, stood from her seat, and marched out of the courtroom, speaking to the slack-jawed prosecutor who was toddling a few steps behind her.

It was the sound of that gavel and the sight of Madame Morrible -now ashen faced and resigned- being dragged out of the courtroom by the burly bailiff that caused Glinda to finally break out of her own stupor.

"Sweet Oz." She breathed out, her eyes wide.

"Sweet Oz." Lurline whispered breathlessly, a hand resting on her still racing heart.

"Sweet Oz." The Wizard gaped, his eyes bulging and his hat nearly falling off of his head.

"Sweet Oz." Elphaba grinned, sitting back and letting a broad smile cross her face as she sat back and regarded Glinda with proud eyes.

"GLINDA!" A trio of voices screamed suddenly, their combined voices louder than anything in the courtroom. Milla, Pfannee and Shenshen jumped out of their seats, fighting (and winning) against the flow of people struggling to leave the court. As the three women raced up the aisle, they knocked and pushed many people over, not even noticing as they rushed up to see Glinda.

"That was _**amazing!"**_ Milla squealed, her eyes shining brightly as she reached her taller friend. "Glinda, you were so professional!"

"You were like a **lawyer."** Shenshen whispered, her eyes rounding as she regarded her friend with a dumbfounded sort of awe.

"Well that's what she _is_, isn't she?" Pfannee snorted, always the first to start something with Shenshen (despite their supposed best friend status). With her arms akimbo, the munchkin turned a disbelieving eye onto Shenshen. "Honestly Shenshen, sometime's you're just so...ugh."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Shenshen frowned, her eyes losing their awed glaze as the diminutive girl's comment finally registered in her mind.

"Let's not start a fight please!" Milla whimpered, stepping between the two as they began to glare heatedly at each other. While Shenshen and Pfannee were focused on each other, Milla's eyes were trained onto the security guard who was eying them suspiciously.

Biting her lip to stifle a laugh, Glinda smiled at her friends. Though she was very happy to see them, something felt different. She felt just as comfortable with them and she didn't feel out of place, but there was now something that was just… off. Something that made her different. She wasn't quite as blissful and bubbly as them anymore; she was now more down to earth, the littlest bit more sensible.

Before she would have gasped overdramatically for flair, and jumped right into the squabble to try and get her friends to stop. Now though, she simply stood back and spoke loud enough to get their attention.

"Pfannee, Shenshen is right." Glinda spoke out. With those words, all three of the girls quieted and turned to look at Glinda, who couldn't help but look modest. "I'm not a lawyer, I'm just a student."

"Nonsense!"

This time it was Glinda's time to turn and to look. Standing behind her was a beaming Lurline; life had come back to the woman, showing through her flushed cheeks, her bright eyes and the way she almost radiated happiness.

"You can say that you aren't one, but to me, you are." Lurline told Glinda. "I bet to everyone in this room, it doesn't matter if you've finished at Shiz or not. To all of them, and to me, you're already a fully fledged, amazingly skilled lawyer."

Taken aback by Lurline's words, Glinda was speechless. To receive such a compliment – especially from her old mentor, even if she was her sorcery mentor and not her legal mentor- was incredible.

"Lurline... I don't know what to say..."

"I do!" Pfannee screeched suddenly, startling both blondes."I love you Lurline!"

"...Excuse me?" Lurline blinked, surprised by the munchkin's sudden declaration of love.

"You have the best fashion sense in all of Oz!" Shenshen murmured, drawing close to the blonde sorceress as Milla, flanked at her elbow, chirped out a happy "And the best sorcery skills!"

Suddenly swarmed by Glinda's adoring friends, Lurline could only put on her social persona and smile and chat animatedly, if a little bemusedly as the three women closed in on her.

Giggling at the sight of it, Glinda didn't immediately feel the hand tapping on her shoulder. When she heard a familiar slight cough, she whirled around to see Kumbricia standing behind her, leaning her weight onto one hip.

With her posture, dark clothes and matching half lidded eyes, Kumbricia seemed herself as usual... except, she wasn't. There was something out of place- that being the congratulatory smile on her face, not her usual half hearted smirk.

"You know Galinda..." The woman drawled, "I used to doubt you. Even dislike you. Now though..."

Glinda was surprised as, for the first time, Kumbricia's heavily lidded eyes opened fully, allowing a sparkle to come into her eyes.

"I can't say I dislike you anymore. Nor can I say that I doubt you. I can only say that hopefully I'll be able to make waves and save someone like you just did."

Kumbricia stretched a hand out, offering it to Glinda. Tentatively, Glinda took Kumbricia's hand into her own. When Glinda felt the warmth in Kumbricia's hand and saw the warmth in the woman's smile, Glinda felt herself relax and a smile work itself onto her own face.

Kumbricia shook the blonde's hand warmly and let it go. The minute Kumbricia let go, Glinda felt another hand grasp hers and heard another congratulations said warmly to her. Once that person let go, another person took Glinda's hand… and another one after that, and another after that, and another after that, and another one and another one.

Soon Glinda was literally whirling around and around, feeling hands being pressed eagerly into her own and shaken roughly, hearing shouts of congratulations and compliments and requests for interviews and seeing faces beaming at her from every direction.

For all of Glinda's years of being an elite social butterfly (and there were many of those years), Glinda had never had so many people crowding her, all so they could get a piece of her, and definitely not all at once. Even to Glinda it was nerve wracking; she literally felt herself being pushed through the crowd to get from person to person.

Suddenly Glinda found herself jostled so much that she was launched out of the budding crowd and into the hallway of the courtroom, the doors shutting decisively behind her. Apparently the people inside were so excited that they hadn't even noticed that Glinda was not there anymore.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Glinda began to smooth down the folds and creases in her skirt. Once they were gone (or at least mostly gone) Glinda dropped her hands to her sides. About to take a step forward and to the exit doors, the blonde suddenly felt one last hand suddenly gently grasp her wrist.

Putting on her patented plastic smile, Glinda sucked in a breath and turned round to face that last courtgoer, jury member or reporter begging for a last few words with her, a word of congratulations in their own mouths. Yet when she turned and saw that it was none of the three, her plastic smile melted into a real smile, ten times brighter than her normal one.

"Elphie!" Glinda beamed. Though the young law student had felt fatigued but a moment ago; upon seeing Elphaba she felt instantly refreshed, the tiredness draining out of her and giving way to new energy she wasn't aware she had.

"You did a great job today Glinda." Elphaba said, a small smile gracing the green girl's face.

"I can barely believe that I managed to do this, myself." Glinda admitted, the smile on her face dropping slightly, replaced with a sheepish grin and a worn look in her eyes.

"Well, believe it or not, I _can._" The smile completely dropped off Elphaba's face and was replaced immediately by a serious thin line- however, her eyes remained soft.

Glinda's sheepish grin remained. "Oh Elph-"

Raising a hand, Elphaba laid a single green digit on Glinda's pink glossed lips, effectively stopping the woman mid word.

"Let me finish." Elphaba said gently and Glinda nodded her consent.

Somehow, miraculously, both women failed to notice the hot blush that rose and flushed in Glinda's cheeks the minute Elphaba's finger touched Glinda's mouth.

"Glinda, today you managed to do something even the top defense attorney in all of Oz could not do; you managed to have your client get off scot free, not a blemish to her name, while unmasking the true murderer simultaneously; and all through that while, you kept her one big secret. You bounced back from the jeers of your fellow students and from being fired all to come to this point; and all while still being a first year law student.

"Even before this point Glinda, you made an amazing transformation. Before, and I'm sorry to say this, you were bound to drop out of law school and head home to the upper uplands within a few months. However, you managed to hold on and stay at Shiz, stay as an intern and stay…"

Elphaba hesitated for a moment. Something flickered through her eyes, but she swallowed quickly and went on.

"And stay here, with everyone, every step of the way. Glinda Upland, I have to say this as your best friend and your tutor; I'm proud of you."

With a speech like that, Glinda couldn't help herself.

Stepping forward quickly, Glinda looped her arms around the verdant woman's neck and pulled her in close, just barely getting Elphie's elbow out of the way in time.

Not expecting to be bent over like that, Elphaba took a reflexive step backwards and straightened her back at the same time. As a result, Glinda (who was still holding on tightly around Elphaba's neck) was sent up into the air, off her feet. Immediately, Elphaba put a hand on her lower back to steady the diminutive blonde, and another step back to steady herself and try and balance the sudden added weight.

Lifted suddenly off her feet, a peal of laughter poured out of Glinda's mouth and into the open air. The blonde's laughter was too contagious for Elphaba to not at least chuckle; and chuckle Elphaba did as she lowered Glinda back to the ground, grinning brightly.

However, before Elphaba could stand straight back up again, Glinda launched one more surprise move. Once again she looped her arms around Elphaba's neck and pulled her close- but instead of being carried into the air again, Glinda took this opportunity to bring her mouth close and whisper something into Elphaba's ear.

"I couldn't have done any of it without you."

After waiting a few beats, Glinda slowly unwound her arms from around Elphaba's neck until only her fingers were linked around there. She smiled upwards at Elphaba, who, after another moment of hesitation, glanced back downwards and smiled just as warmly as Elphaba was smiling at her.

And the moment Elphaba's lips curled into a smile, Glinda felt something change inside her.

Before, Glinda had been so at ease with Elphaba. Now, there was tension; not the awkward sort of tension that made Glinda want to leave, but a kind of tension Glinda had never experienced before; so thick that it could almost be sliced through with a knife. Glinda couldn't help but stare up, eyes locking onto Elphaba's earth flecked ones.

She searched those eyes, probing deeply until she found an emotion. When she did, Glinda's own blue orbs widened slightly as she realized that whatever Elphaba was feeling, it matched what Glinda herself felt, though both women had no name for it.

And that second, Glinda became so much more aware of the world around her and in front of her.

She became aware of the soft hairs tickling her fingers at the nape of Elphaba's neck. She became aware of Elphaba's soft shallow exhales, nearly silent but each coming quicker than the last. She became aware of the dark green blush painting Elphaba's emerald cheeks a darker colour.

She became aware of just how small the space between Elphaba's face and her own was.

She became aware of just how _intimate_ she and Elphaba were.

Most of all, Glinda became aware of just how much she wanted to touch Elphaba's lips – Elphaba's soft, inviting lips- to her own.

As Glinda's eyes broke away from Elphaba's to travel downwards, her gaze lingering solely on the green woman's lips, Glinda felt Elphaba's gaze burning into her. Unhurriedly, Glinda let her eyes slowly move back up Elphaba's face, dragging over Elphaba's lips to the swell of Elphaba's nose and trailing over the curve of Elphaba's lower eyelids before finally coming to a stop as she met Elphaba's gaze once more.

Once Glinda met those darkened eyes, the urge to meet her mouth to Elphaba's became simply _irresistible._

Slowly, ever so slowly, Glinda's mouth began to draw closer and closer to Elphaba's. As their faces came closer and closer, Glinda let her eyes drift closed.

Just when their mouths were about to touch each other's, something changed once again. Glinda could feel it in the air; the urge, the _need_ to kiss Elphaba was still there, but now there was hesitance.

Fighting against the spoiled, aggressive part of her that was screaming for Glinda to connect her lips to Elphaba's and to meld the warmth radiating from the two of them into one, Glinda's eyes fluttered open to see just what in Oz's name had caused Elphaba to stop.

Peering upwards through her eyelashes, Glinda saw that Elphaba's eyes (still so much darker than usual) were no longer closed- or, at least, if they had never been, they were no longer focused upon her. Instead, they were reluctantly focused upon something in the distance.

Glinda opened her eyes fully. "Elphie?" The petite woman murmured, worried as she looked up at Elphaba.

Hearing her name called, Elphaba snapped her eyes back to the tiny woman standing almost pressed up against her. Brown eyes once more locking on Glinda's own blue, Elphaba swallowed thickly. At a snail's pace, the green girl reached her arms back and and gently removed Glinda's protesting fingers from the nape of her neck.

"Elphie?" Glinda asked again, her voice tiny and hurt as she watched Elphaba drop Glinda's hands like hot coals.

"I think that someone's waiting to talk to you Glinda." Elphaba said, her voice just as quiet as Glinda's.

The green woman took a step backwards and away from Glinda. The moment she did, the blonde found herself missing the warmth she felt from Elphaba's close presence, the feeling Elphaba's supple skin in her hands.

Pursing her lips, Glinda looked at Elphaba quizzically. The green girl merely motioned over Glinda's shoulder.

"Glinda?" A familiar voice called out unexpectedly.

Turning around, Glinda froze as she saw who it was standing there down the hall from her.

Fiyero.

Standing there, smiling handsomely, hands in his pockets as he gazed at her.

Almost a year ago, it was that charming smile that captivated Glinda, stole her attention and made the world fall away every time it was directed at her.

Yet now, Glinda found that smile to be as attention capturing as a flea.

Turning around quickly, Glinda faced the green woman lingering behind her. Said woman was glancing in between Glinda herself and Fiyero. As she did so, Glinda saw a strange look in her eyes.

"Elphie?"

Shaking herself of whatever trance she was in, Elphaba focused her attention solely on Glinda.

"You know what Glinda? It's alright.

"I'm…" Elphaba trailed off. Her eyes flicked between the smiling man and the confused woman in front of her once more. Taking in a deep breath, Elphaba smiled.

It didn't take a woman with Glinda's knowledge of the plastic smile to know that Elphaba's grin was forced.

"I'll see you later Glinda." Elphaba finished finally, smiling that odd forced smile. The green girl turned on her heel and walked away. Before she did however, her eyes flashed with that strange look a second time.

As Elphaba left her sight, Glinda realized that the strange look in Elphaba's eyes was resignation.

Stomach burning unpleasantly, Glinda suddenly felt sick as she thought of the fake smile and the resigned look in Elphaba's eyes. It hurt Glinda, cut her deep to think of that look. It hurt to think that Elphaba was giving up.

Yet what Elphaba was giving up, _why_ Elphaba was giving up, and the reason why this unsettled and pained Glinda so much was all unknown to her.

The blonde couldn't solve her own feelings now though; now that Fiyero was walking towards her, his footsteps ringing in the hall as he approached her.

"Glinda." The Vinkus prince smiled.

"…Fiyero." Was all Glinda could say back.

As if he hadn't heard, Fiyero's smile grew wider. "Glinda, I was so completely wrong about you; so terribly, completely wrong about you and what I said."

Stunned, it took Glinda a moment to absorb what Fiyero said.

"I… thank you, Fiyero." Glinda could only blink, still surprised. "I just want to say to you that-"

"We _do _deserve each other." Fiyero cut her off, beaming as he spoke.

Reaching out to her, Fiyero took one of Glinda's hands in his own and pulled her close, flush against his body.

"I used to think you weren't serious enough for me." The young man chuckled. "Oz, I was so wrong."

"You proved to me by coming along to Shiz and by getting Lurline off the hook just how serious you are." Fiyero raised his hand up and let his thumb stroke along the apple of Glinda's cheek.

Before, Glinda would have swooned and shivered. Now she just stood silent, listening to him speak.

"And now Glinda," Fiyero smiled down indulgently upon her. "Now, it's my turn to show you just how serious _I_ am."

With that, Fiyero dropped his hand from Glinda's cheek. His hand landed back by his side, where it immediately dipped back into his pocket and pulled out something that made Glinda's eyes widen in shock.

Dropping to a single bended knee, Fiyero opened the small velvet box in his hand to reveal the beautiful ring inside.

"Glinda Upland." He grinned. "You're perfect. I'm perfect. Let's be perfect together."

"Will you marry me?"

Fiyero's words echoed in the empty hall, reverberating off the walls, ringing in Glinda's ears.

Slowly, Fiyero watched as a smile crept up on Glinda's face.

"Oh Fiyero…"

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Hey all. To whoever is reading this, and whoever is reading the story still, I'm sorry I took so long with this chapter. Over the summer i developed a terrible case of writers block; and just as I started to recover from it, I had a family tragedy: my grandmother, who I was very close with, died this past summer. I went to her funeral and was in another country for almost 3 weeks with virtually no Internet connection.

I finally finished this yesterday, a few weeks after I returned. I apologize once again to all of you- and, if it helps, I have the next chapter after this finished, and the 2nd last chapter and last chapter almost done. I'm going to devote my free time to finishing this for you all.

Thanks for reading everyone :)


	24. To Make a Brand New Start

**To Make A Brand New Start**

Disclaimer – I do not own Elphaba, Glinda, Fiyero, or any other character in this fic. I do not own Wicked and I do not own Legally Blonde.

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"_Oh Fiyero…"_

_

* * *

_

Glinda smiled at the man kneeling on a lone bent knee in front of her.

Fiyero looked upwards as Glinda spoke. The smile on his face grew twice as bright as he gazed at the beautiful woman standing before him.

However, Fiyero's joy only lasted so long as he looked deeper into Glinda's eyes.

Blue eyes that used to be filled with love and happiness that now only held pity for him.

"Sarima dumped you, didn't she?"

With those five words, Fiyero knew.

He knew that whatever chance they might have had left had died a long, long time ago.

Glinda watched as Fiyero rose to his feet, his radiant handsome smile dropping to reveal a face that was etched with hurt and puzzlement.

"But…why?" The Vinkus prince couldn't help but ask, turning his confused and saddened eyes upon his ex-girlfriend.

The petite woman smiled. Opening her mouth, she hesitated to speak at first, but brushed her hesitation away with a small laugh. "After we broke up Fiyero, this was my greatest dream." Glinda admitted. "But-"

"Then why don't you say yes?" Fiyero interrupted, raising a hand to run through his hair, tousling his once perfect locks, exhaling with irritation due to confusion. "Why don't you marry me Glinda?"

"Fiyero…this _used_ to be my greatest dream." Glinda explained as she looked upwards at the tall man. "I used to fantasize when we were back in Gillikin about how perfect we would be together. How happy I would be.

My dreams have changed Fiyero. _I've_ changed. Before I was so unaware of everything, I could have been living in my magic bubble. Now I know that I can be more that that blissfully ignorant blonde I was before. I know I _am_ more."

"In a way Fiyero," Glinda smiled softly. "I owe this all to you."

"I don't get it." Fiyero mumbled, his brow furrowed and his lips pursed.

"When you broke up with me Fiyero, I was crushed." Glinda said to him freely. "I thought that my world would stop, that I couldn't possibly ever be happy again. I thought that losing your love was a blow I could never withstand.

Yet as I decided to try and get you back, things became just so much easier for me. I learned to do so many things. I learned to _be_ so many things, all new and all wonderful. I've come so far without anyone holding my hand. Like I said, before, I thought I couldn't be happy."

"But now…" Glinda laughed, her smile coming back. "Now I couldn't be happier."

As Fiyero soaked in all of Glinda's words, Glinda watched as it dawned upon him – everything she had just said came together in his mind, blossoming and growing into an idea that he understood.

With a sharp snap, the box bearing the ring was shut in his hand. Hastily, Fiyero averted his eyes form hers and stuffed the velvet box back into his pants. Facing him, Glinda looked upwards again, his handsome face and dark eyes flicking to both his sides before he sighed, nearly inaudibly, and let his gaze drop down to her level once more.

A year and a half ago, had she been in this position, Glinda would have fluttered her lashes, stood on tiptoe, and kissed him with all she had.

Months ago, had she been in this position, she would have let her tears fall, grabbed his hands, and begged him with shouts and great wracking sobs to take her back, to have and to hold.

Yet this was now and not then.

Glinda did not kiss the man with every ounce of passion in her body. Nor did she throw herself into his arms, crying and pleading for him with her every breath.

Instead, Glinda outstretched a hand and offered it to him.

It was a truce, a white flag, a sign of peace.

A sign not of Glinda's passionate love, but of her want to begin a new friendship.

Fiyero blinked as he gazed down upon the slim pale hand before him. Slowly, hesitantly, he covered the hand in his own much larger one. The two shook hands... perhaps as equals for the first time.

Galinda would have thrown a fit.

Glinda was not that girl.

Glinda released Fiyero's hand and smiled upwards at the man again. Wiggling her fingers at him in a goodbye, the blonde woman turned on her heel and began to head to the exit.

She only took a few steps forward before pausing abruptly. Standing there with her back to Fiyero, she seemed to considering something before turning around once more to face him.

"Oh... and Fiyero?"

The prince looked at his former girlfriend, resignation in his eyes alongside the new found curiosity. "Yes Glinda?"

The brightest smile that Fiyero had ever seen in his life broke out on Glinda's face then as she batted her eyelashes at him and spoke.

"Another reason I can't marry you? If I'm going to be a partner at a law firm by the time I'm thirty, I need someone who isn't a complete bonehead."

With that, Glinda giggled to herself and flounced away, humming happily, leaving Fiyero gawking at her with his jaw dropped, open wide.

Glinda might be a different woman than Galinda, but that did not mean that the line between the two could not blur.

* * *

Still giggling as she happily floated along through the hall, Glinda could not contain her glee. The look on Fiyero's face had been absolutely priceless! His eyes had bulged out and his jaw had tightened before dropping in such a way that he looked a lot like Madame Morrible.

Yet, as Glidna rounded the corner, her laughter was abruptly cut off.

Sitting there on a bench near the exit door was Elphaba, who it seemed had not noticed Glinda's presence yet.

Glinda was going to say a chirpy hello until she saw something that seemed quite out of place and out of character for Glinda's tall green friend.

Elphaba's hands were clenched tightly by her sides, fingers pressing deep into her hands. If Glinda could only see the woman's fingertips, she would have seen that they would be a pale spring green- so much different and lighter than Elphaba's normally richly-hued emerald skin, due to the immense pressure Elphaba was putting on her own fingers. Her eyes were filled with raw emotion, and her mouth had thinned even further, her front teeth worrying her bottom lip so much that it looked nearly swollen.

On Elphaba's face was the look again –the peculiar look of resignation now mixed with powerful longing. Seeing that look, that look of desperation and anguish on Elphaba's face sent a pang of pain racing to Glinda's own heart, so strong that it caused Glinda to adopt an expression nearly identical to Elphaba's.

And all too suddenly, memories and feelings from earlier came rushing, fighting, and forcing their way back into Glinda's mind.

How Elphaba had looked out for her from the very beginning, even if unconsciously at first.

'_I know you're not going back to Gillikin for the holiday break, so I got you this.'_

How Elphaba always pushed her, even when she didn't want to, to be a better lawyer and better person.

'_You can get as angry at me as you like, but it won't make any difference unless you channel your anger into something worthwhile- studying, maybe?'_

How Elphaba had never given up on her, even when it seemed everyone else she thought she could trust had turned their back.

'_You are the best thing about this entire place... I want you to know that... that you don't know just how much I want you to stay.'_

With all these memories swirling round her mind, crystal clear and sharp, one last recent memory came to mind. One that had affected her in a way she never thought anything would have.

'_Once she met those darkened eyes, the urge to meet her mouth with Elphaba's became irresistible.'_

The images and memories playing like a slideshow in her mind changed just then. Before they were Elphaba centric- now, they were moments of her own that had to do with the green girl who had so thoroughly helped change her life.

Moments of clarity in Glinda's mind that showed her just how much Glinda reciprocated Elphaba's action and moments that showed just how much Glinda herself cared for the green girl as much as said green girl cared for her.

'_Elphie, no matter what you say, I'm coming.'_

Or moments that showed how despite what everyone thought and assumed about Elphie, Glinda could see through all their slander and fear to the woman underneath who she knew so well.

'_Why, Miss Elphaba; you're beautiful.'_

The thoughts in her mind swam round Glinda's head- an abstract jigsaw puzzle, each memory or though our image just another piece slowly settling into place, forming an image of something; something that would make a person shake their head, smile, and wonder why they hadn't been able to see the big picture all along.

Putting everything together was like listening to a cacophony of sound- jarred and disquieting initially, it swelled and crescendoed until suddenly, the beautiful song it had been all along came tumbling out of that jarring noise, and what became confusing suddenly became beautiful and so, so obvious.

In other words, Glinda had just come to a great realization.

Glinda realized something. Something that made every thick tension, every longer than normal hug, every murmured compliment, every awkward moment, every unknown feeling and glance, something that made _every single thing_ that Glinda could not previously identify between her and Elphaba suddenly make sense.

Glinda had been chasing after Fiyero for so long, she hadn't noticed that along the way she had fallen out of love with the man she came to Shiz to get, and instead had fallen in love with the woman who had kept her in Shiz in the first place.

And judging from Elphaba's reactions all this time, Glinda had a very good idea as to how Elphaba felt about her.

Creeping forward from where she had stood stock still all this time, Glinda reached outwards and placed a hand on Elphaba's shoulder.

"Elphie?" Glinda said softly.

Startled, Elphaba snapped to attention; it seemed that Glinda hadn't been the only one oblivious to the world around her. When the verdant woman saw that it was only Glinda, she relaxed. Her hands loosened from their tight fists, slowly returning to their normal colour as the blood began to rush through them once more.

"Oh... Glinda." Elphaba breathed, a vague smile coming to her face. "You startled me."

"Did I?" Glinda smiled sheepishly, inwardly giggling again. Elphaba still looked so bewildered, like a green bird blinking owlishly.

'_She's adorable.' _Glinda thought to herself, a smile playing on her lips as she stared into Elphaba's eyes. However, that smile left as Glinda noticed something; something she hadn't been able to see from afar.

Unshed tears burning in Elphaba's earthy eyes.

Quickly, realizing that Glinda was staring, Elphaba raised a hand and wiped them away.

"So, are you done with Fiyero?" Elphaba asked, the emerald lawyer trying to pass off her tears as tiredness, but Glinda knew better than to fall for that.

Elphaba had been on the verge of crying.

Somehow, Elphaba had known what Fiyero wanted with Glinda, and had almost began to cry as a result, assuming the worst.

A wave of sorrow and guilt tore through Glinda's body right then.

All this time, she had been putting Elphaba through this torment- teasing her (albeit unintentionally) with tastes of the love she could have, then turning and running after Fiyero right after.

Well, no more.

"Glinda?" The blonde head Elphaba call. "Glinda?"

The blonde blinked back into focus and quickly glanced back upwards at Elphaba, who was now up on her feet. "Huh?"

"Are you done with Fiyero?" Elphaba asked again. She tried to sound cool and detached with a hint of friendliness, she really did, but Glinda could hear the sadness in Elphaba's voice; it was almost palpable. It tugged at Glinda's heartstrings to hear Elphaba so sad. She had to change that somehow.

Coming up with an idea, a wry smile twisted Glinda's lips. The blonde woman walked past Elphaba a few paces, stopped, and beckoned the green woman to follow her. Confused but willing, Elphaba did as she was told, easily catching up and falling in step with Glinda within a few strides,

Gently, Glinda reached out with her left hand and took Elphaba's hand into her own, interlacing Elphaba's green fingers with her own pale ones in a bold, daring move.

"Yes, I did Elphie." Glinda smiled softly, laying her head on Elphaba's shoulders as they walked out of the court and into the early evening. "I'm done with Fiyero, Elphie."

"I'm done with him once and for all."

* * *

I'm sorry for the delay. School and life got in the way.

Also, I must apologize. This chapter was meant to be short in the first place, but at the same time I really was not feeling this chapter as I was writing it. As a result, I might come back later and redo several parts of it, but I hope you all enjoyed this anyway and are willing to drop me a review and tell me what you think :)


	25. Couldn't Be Happier

**Couldn't be Happier**

**Disclaimer – I do not own Wicked, nor do I own Legally Blonde. I do not own any characters mentioned within this story.  


* * *

**

_Three years later…_

"Did you hear?"

One woman whispered to her companion. Her companion in turn shook her head, and the woman giggled, a mysterious look in her eyes. Deciding to let her friend in on the secret, she leaned forward and quietly whispered something into her companion's ear.

Whatever it was that she said, the companion's eyes widened and a grin appeared on her face. Glancing around, the companion spotted someone else she knew, and quickly scurried off to see them.

"Did you hear?" She whispered, glancing around suspiciously.

"No, I haven't." Her friend said, brows drawn together in confusion and curiosity. "What is it?"

Much like the person who had told her, the woman giggled and crooked a finger at the person she was speaking to, motioning for them to come closer so she could tell _them _the secret.

The air was abuzz with murmurs, much like it was on a certain fateful day almost four years ago – the fateful day that changed Glinda's life completely.

Yet it seemed that there were several noticeable differences between that day so long ago and the day that was this day.

For you see, four years ago, Galinda's friends and sisters and been standing in a sorority house in Upper Gillikin, squealing and screaming and sighing and swooning and signing cards as they prepared for what was then Galinda's imminent looming proposal and engagement.

Four years later, Galinda's friends and fellow students were sitting in Shiz's grand hall, smiling and whispering and wondering and waiting as they anticipated the ceremony's beginning- the ceremony that marked the day that they had all been waiting for ever since entering the hallowed halls of Shiz University.

Graduation day.

Three years after they had entered Shiz law school, the grounds outside were still and prestigious and pristine as they were back then. Yet, the campus was emptier than ever and _felt_ even emptier than that for all the soon to be graduates – for after this day they would all be leaving Shiz. The thought made some misty eyed, while others could only bounce in joy.

However, between all those mixed emotions and equally mixed ideas, one thought, one sentence hung over them all.

"Glinda Upland is-"

A sudden rapid clicking of heels cut through the sound in the hall. All graduates to be, guests, professors and parents fell silent as the sound grew louder and louder until a tanned and dark haired woman strode confidently up to the podium set up at the head of the room, a graduate cap on her head and a black gown on her body.

Turning to face the audience, the woman cleared her throat. As she did, her eyes sailed over the sea of black, and a small smile quirked her lips.

Opening her mouth, Sarima began to speak.

"A great man once wrote 'to accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but believe.'"

This statement is a poignant one, written with trust and honesty. I believe that we must all follow it and have, at least at some point in our lives, lived these great words. However, I believe that this applies to no one better than I woman I know and have come to deeply respect."

Sarima smiled humourlessly as she took a breath, her eyes a little sad and ashamed as she went on.

"Three years ago, I had little faith in her. I thought she was bound to drop out, bound to fail herself and all others. Yet, over the past years, this woman has taught me; taught _us _so much more than we ever believed we could know. She taught me to never forget that being true to one self is like the colour black—it never goes out of style."

The sadness melted out of her eyes, and her mouth became a wide, wide grin as she proudly shouted-

"Ladies and gentleman, I would like to proudly introduce our valedictorian, **GLINDA UPLAND!"**

The graduating class let out a raucous cheer as their claps echoed thunderously around the room. Amidst the noise, Glinda stepped onto the platform, her graduate cap perched upon her impeccable blonde curls and her smile nearly as wide as the yellow brick road.

Her graduation gown swished around her ankles as she walked to the podium,, where she stood to face the sea of eyes and faces.

Taking a deep breath, Glinda took a moment to compose herself. Murmuring a quick spell, the blonde faced the audience once more.

"Fellow Ozians." Glinda began , her magically amplified voice ringing in the room. The blonde woman paused for a moment, looking around at the people before her. Her smile faded partially, growing smaller but certainly no less jovial.

"Friends." Glinda began again. Whereas before, her opening words seemed too formal, now a sort of intimacy was brought into the room as the petite girl cleared her throat once more and continued with her speech.

"For four years, we have been together at Shiz. For four years, we have laughed together, cried together, eaten together, and learned together and even more. However, we have all come along to this point with the help of others. I thank you one and all for this, personally. Some of you taught me how to fail- and in the same way, you taught me how to rise up and become better than I ever thought I could be. You helped me and others like me find their way."

The emotion, emphasis and truthfulness of Glinda's words revealed a completely different woman than the one who had flirted and flounced into Shiz four years ago. That woman's enthusiasm and amazing people skills remained- but her shallowness had become deep, her intelligence unlimited, her attitude, behaviour and skills humbled and tempered until she had become the mature woman who had always been lurking under the surface.

Yet Glinda was not the only one subject to change. In the three years that passed, many students had undergone changes of their own, and in the coming years, change would once again come and go- some change for the good and the better and some… well, change did not suit everyone.

As Glinda continued to speak with passion, her eyes glowing bright and her cheeks flushing pink, she watched the crowds, coming across familiar and unfamiliar faces alike.

Like Nessarose, who sat quietly in her wheelchair, smiling at the friend standing in the podium above her.

* * *

_In the years to come, Nessarose would attend the Shiz University of Law. Once she graduated, she would move back to Munchkinland to live with her father. However, Nessa would not remain there for long; Boq, her beau from her pre-Shiz days would eventually convince stalwart Frex Thropp to give him Nessa's hand in marriage._

_The two would eventually move to an area just south of the Emerald city. Nessarose, trying to overcome her dependence on others, opened a small salon. The salon, surprisingly, became quite popular. Nessarose, pleased with her success, began to not only treat Animals at her salon but hire them as well, eventually taking a step back from the nail-work to instead run the business and help her husband, Boq, run his own delivery service. _

_

* * *

_

Glinda smiled back at Nessarose as she paused for air and then continued speaking. As her words moved on, so did her eyes. They roved along randomly, eventually coming to a spot in the audience where two shining faces and one sullen one stared back at her- Kumbricia, Lurline, and the Wizard.

* * *

_Kumbricia would go on to practice law as a prosecutor. However, even as she continued her practice, she took on a new study as well- that being the study of sorcery under Lurline herself. As Lurline taught Kumbricia spell casting, Kumbricia would teach Lurline about legal matters and the law itself. Eventually, Lurline would return to school to earn and receive her formal law degree at Shiz._

_As for the Wizard, after his fall from grace in Glinda's eyes, things took a turn for the worse. Shortly after the graduation of Glinda's year, the Wizard resigned from Shiz, making his law career his full time focus. Soon after, the Wizard announced he would be running in the democratic race for the new leader of the Emerald city. However, he lost, ending up dead last in the race. His opponent won by a landslide vote, making him the loser and Lurline the new leader of the central hub of Oz._

_Crushed and nursing his wounded pride, the Wizard returned to Shiz, expecting to receive his old position immediately. Yet the former professor did not become one again, as his old position had been filled by someone who was less volatile and even more brilliant than the pompous Wizard himself. Though he did not quit the practice, the Wizard's law firm was never quite as successful ever again._

_

* * *

_

Moving on from her mentor, her classmate and her disgruntled teacher, Glinda set her sights on someone else sitting close by them – a smiling tanned face, owned by no one other than Sarima herself. Behind her was another familiar face, that being Fiyero's. Fiyero, however, was cross armed and pouting, slouched in his seat.

* * *

_Sarima went on to become an amazing defense attorney. She opened her own firm, joining with a few others to create a larger, and even more successful and profitable firm. _

_In a few years' time, Sarima was offered a lucrative position teaching the youth about criminal law- she was offered the very job the Wizard had quit. Without debate, Sarima took the job, smoothly juggling running her law firm with teaching at Shiz. She quickly becoming one of the most favoured and learned teachers there._

_Fiyero, on the other hand, had a very different life after Shiz. Graduating without honours, awards, or a girlfriend, the Vinkus price returned to his homeland. Humbled somewhat from Shiz, when Fiyero was made the King of his tribe he was as eager to dance through life as he had been in Gillikin. Although he was a shaky ruler at times, the people loved him. As their King he earned the title 'Scarecrow' for the loose limbed dance and ruling style he held throughout his life._

_

* * *

_

Finally, as Glinda was coming to the end of her speech, she drew in a breath. As they watched her, some people smiled, some frowned, and some teared up. All the students waited with bated breath, and even with the smiles and frowns and tears, all of them had the same look on their faces – scared, yet hopeful, ready for what life after Shiz would bring them.

"When we started at Shiz years ago… when _I _started at Shiz years ago, I was a completely different girl." Glinda told them all, a small smile on her face. "As Sarima said, three years ago she thought I was bound to drop out and bound to _fail_. She was not the only one who thought that- many people did, and at one point, I did as well.

Thanks to you all. To those who didn't believe in me, you taught me how to learn from my mistakes. To those who did, you taught me true faith and friendship. To everyone…"

Glinda paused again, breath catching in her throat as she stared out at the audience before her. Was this it? Was this the end? So many years spent at Shiz, so many people she had met… was this the last time she would see them?

Glinda didn't want it to end just yet. Tears came to her eyes and she tried to clear her throat and go on, but she found she just could not.

It was only when she caught a green smear in her line of vision did Glinda's sadness clear. Through her blurry vision, Glinda could see Elphaba. Front row and centre, staring up at her. No judgement, no sadness, no ridicule at Glinda for crying. Only a small smile on her face and a warm look reserved for Glinda alone that meant encouragement, strength and courage. It was the small look reserved for Glinda that meant '_you can do it.'_

Taking in a deep breath, Glinda blinked once. The tears rolled down her cheeks, but even as they did, she opened her mouth and quirked her cheeks upwards to reveal her dazzling smile.

"I know I'm who I am today because I knew you. All of you. Through each other's help, we've found our way. And as Valedictorian, I want to say to you all that that will always stay the same."

Glinda stepped back from the podium and even before her foot touched down, everyone in the audience was clapping and cheering wildly, all on their feet (or as best as they could) as they gave Glinda a raucous standing ovation, loud enough to make the hall roar and the ground tremble.

As Glinda watched them all clap, her mind wandered. In her mind, she saw them all four years prior – how they had changed from who they were to someone completely different. How she, herself had changed from a silly young girl into something, someone more than anybody ever thought she could be. A few more tears slipped down her cheeks, but they were not the tears for who she had been.

They were tears of happiness for the change in herself, for her successful years at Shiz, for knowing that the future was frightening but knowing also that she would have all these memories and people to fall back on when times turned rough yet again.

And slowly the tears dried and her smile grew wider.

Grabbing the brim of her cap, Glinda threw it high, high into the air. Her hat was joined only moments later by hundreds and hundreds of her classmates' hats.

When the hats began to fall like rain, Glinda's eyes, too, fell, first and foremost on Elphaba.

Grinning at each other, Glinda stepped off the podium and ran into Elphaba's open arms, whispering to her amidst the noise,

"_I couldn't be happier."_


	26. For Good

**For Good**

Disclaimer – I don't own Wicked. I don't own Legally Blonde.

* * *

"You were amazing today." Elphaba laughed softly, hands clasped behind her back as she walked down the street.

Glinda beside her smiled shyly, the pinkish glow from the setting sun disguising the blush painted upon her cheeks. "Flatterer."

"I mean it." Elphaba said, pausing for a moment to glance at Glinda. The sincerity in her eyes comforted Glinda; the shy smile on her face grew decidedly less bashful.

Smiling back fully at Glinda, the pair turned left at the corner and continued on their stroll. At Elphaba's side, Glinda sighed contentedly. There had never been a time when she was happier.

Speaking at her graduation had been one of the hardest things Glinda had ever done. Yet it had gone off mostly without a hitch, and when Glinda had hobbled out of Elphaba's arms (still weak at the knees) she had immediately been bombarded with the people's cheers, handshakes and congratulations.

After the diplomas had been handed out and Glinda could stand once again, Milla, Pfannee and Shenshen had rushed to her, squealing their compliments and shrieking with delight after practically every word. This continued until Elphaba, looking both amused and mildly irritated, took pity on the class valedictorian and swooped in asking to borrow their former president.

The girls had pouted and pleaded for only a few moments more, but the firm look of insistence on Elphaba's face reminded them that they knew better.

Three years ago, the first time that the trio had met Elphaba, it was the exact same position; mobbing Glinda until Elphaba decided to step in. With their backs turned to Elphaba, they had made snide (and rather hypocritical) comments about rudeness and interruptions, until Elphaba tapped one on the shoulder. The three whirled around, armed with vicious comments ad fully prepared to use them – until they caught sight of Elphaba's emerald skin and became much more interested in _that _than Glinda.

After many questions about it (and a grudging new respect collectively formed for the green girl's intelligence and ability to shrug off even the most bizarre questions and rude comments) they had conceded defeat.

As it was, though Pfannee, Milla and Shenshen had learned to not try and mess with Elphaba, they _still_ had not figured out that 'borrowing' Glinda meant that Glinda was not going to be coming back the whole night. Not that the three would notice, too excited by the prospect of gaining new 'friends'; or at least, new social strings that would be _very_ useful to pull in the years to come.

And that was how the duo ended up where they were now, walking to Elphaba's humble abode.

"Elphie?" Glinda spoke up suddenly, coming out of her reverie.

"Yes?" The green girl replied, glancing at her companion.

"Did you ever think that we'd ever be in this position?"

_That_ made Elphaba pause for a moment.

"…Elphie?"

Slowly, Elphaba shook her head. "No I didn't." She admitted.

"I didn't think that at all."

"Neither did I." Glinda responded. She ducked her head down and began to shyly smile again as she reached out and found a familiar hand, entwining its fingers with her own.

"I have to admit though," She grinned as she playfully swung their hands to and fro, "I don't exactly mind how this has turned out."

Raising her eyes from their hands, Elphaba smiled as well. "Neither do I."

The two continued down the road for quite some time, until Glinda suddenly halted, surprising Elphaba (who had been jerked back rather painfully due to the fact they were still holding hands).

Grimacing slightly at the pain, Elphaba turned back to see what was the matter.

Glinda was glancing upwards at something above her, head cocked and eyes focused upon it. Following her line of vision, Elphaba's eyes met a wrought iron archway, intricately detailed and covered in vines.

"Is that…?" Glinda began.

Everything snapped into place for Elphaba, who simply nodded. "Care to have a look?

At Glinda's enthusiastic nod, Elphaba smiled. This time, _she_ reached out and took Glinda's hand in her own, leading the blonde through the arch and down a path.

They walked in a comfortable silence, the two simply enjoying each other and the feeling of each other's hands in their own – no words needed to be said, the two were in perfect sync.

Their silence was broken when Glinda let out a small laugh. Elphaba shot a glance at the woman's face and smiled as she saw the look of delight on the petite woman's face.

There, in front of them, was a park bench.

"This is the same one, isn't it?" Glinda said, releasing Elphaba's hand as she took a few steps forward and took a seat. "This is where you found me crying after the party."

"Wearing that ridiculous outfit, no less." Elphaba pointedly reminded her, her lips twisting into a wry smirk.

The blonde snorted, her eyes twinkling with mirth. "Can you honestly say you didn't enjoy the view?" She teased.

Elphaba simply arched a single brow.

"No comment." She replied, bringing forth another giggle out of Glinda as Elphaba too took a seat on the bench.

"It's funny, you know?" Glinda said after her laughing fit had passed. "If you hadn't found me here… I don't think that I'd be here right now."

"Sitting on a sticky bench wearing a dress more expensive than the furniture itself?" Elphaba quipped.

"No, no… well, yes." Glinda admitted. "But what I mean is… _here_, in my life. I don't think I would've stayed very long at Shiz had it not been for that night."

"Or more specifically…" Glinda turned her body so she could clearly face Elphaba. "Had it not been for you."

"Glinda, don't-"

"I'm serious, Elphie. You don't have to sugar-coat it." Glinda interrupted. "I wouldn't have been here had it not been for you. You, who made me strive and study and become more than the sorority poster child. I wouldn't have continued to study; I wouldn't have been able to help Lurline. I wouldn't be who I am today without you."

"Glinda…"Elphaba began quietly after Glinda's impromptu speech. "Everything you said might be true, but…"

The elder lawyer paused, taking a deep breath, before turning and gazing into blue eyes. Even now, years later, Elphaba still had some trouble fully expressing her emotions, even to Glinda. But Elphaba also knew what had to be said, which was what made her breathe in deep once more and continue on.

"You aren't the only one who wouldn't be here today." Elphaba said. "Without your help… I don't think I would have changed. I think that I'd still be stuck working for the Wizard, underpaid, always dreaming, still struggling to help send Nessa to Shiz, still trying to win my house back from Nikidik."

"I'm limited." Elphaba admittedly freely, "I'm limited. And just look at you, you can do all I couldn't do, Glinda."

"Without you, I don't think I could be who I am, nor do what I do. From that day here years ago, you helped me just as much as I helped you. You stayed with me."

Elphaba lifted Glinda's hand, unfolded it and splayed out the pale woman's fingers, pressing Glinda's hand over her chest. Under the fabric and delicate skin, Glinda could feel Elphaba's heartbeat, thumping steadily.

"So much of me is made from what I learned from you. You stayed with me like a handprint on my heart." Elphaba told her, eyes shining with utmost sincerity.

Glinda, unable to resist, pulled Elphaba close to her, embracing her tightly; the verdant woman reciprocated immediately with just as much strength.

"I've heard it's said," Glinda whispered into Elphaba's ear after a moment's silence, "That people come into our lives for a reason."

"They bring something we must learn, and we are lead to those who help us most to grow if we let them; and we, help them, in return."

Pulling back, Glinda raised the hand from Elphaba's heart and swept back a lock of hair that had fallen into the verdant woman's eyes. Tucking the lock between the green woman's ear, the blonde's fingers ghosted down Elphaba's jawline and swept over her soft lips before cupping her face gently.

"I don't know if I believe that's true." Glinda murmured. "Who can say if thanks to those people, I've been changed for the better? Who can say if thanks to _you_, I've been changed for the better?"

"However," Glinda said as she swept a thumb over the apple of Elphaba's cheek, "I do believe that I've been changed for the better."

"Because I knew _you_, Elphaba Thropp." Glinda tilted Elphaba's chin downwards and leaned their foreheads together. "Because I knew you, I have been changed for good."

"So will you change my life for good once more?"

Elphaba, whose eyes had drifted closed, drew her brows together in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Glinda laughed.

"Open your eyes Elphie." She whispered.

When Elphaba did open her eyes, the world around her drew to a halt.

There, cradled in Glinda's free hand, was a velvet box.

And snuggled inside was the most beautiful ring Elphaba had ever seen.

"Elphie?" The dulcet tones of Glinda's voice brought Elphaba back to reality. Seeing the fearful look in the blonde's eyes, Elphaba gasped for breath, feeling the beginning of tears pricking her eyes.

"Yes." Elphaba breathed. "Oz, yes."

A radiant smile burst out on Glinda's face, one that could only come from pure elation.

"Wait, wait." Elphaba said suddenly, just as Glinda lent into her.

Confused and nervous, the blonde pulled back. Was Elphaba reconsidering? Did she not mean to say yes? Was it all (and here a lump formed in Glinda's throat) a mistake?

All of Glinda's questions were answered with one tiny package that was pulled out of Elphaba's jacket. Opening it up, Elphaba revealed to Glinda a ring of her own.

Staring down at the two rings between them, Glinda and Elphaba met each other's eyes…

And began to laugh.

Before long, the laughter died out as their mouths met perfectly in the middle. Soft lips were pressed against soft lips, a jolt of electricity running through each woman. The kiss grew in intensity and passion, and when it finally, finally broke off (and only for air) it left _both_ women panting, breathless, foreheads once again pressed together.

Slowly, blue eyes opened once again to meet with earthen orbs.

And both women smiled and joined their hands together once again.

"I love you, Elphie."

"I love you too, Glinda."

* * *

_Glinda graduated summa cum laude from Shiz. Straight out of law school, the woman was offered top spots at several of the most high-profile law firms, each firm vying for the finest student to come out of Shiz in years. After settling with a firm, Glinda became an active defense attorney. Thanks to her background in sorcery, her Gillikin heritage and her completely belief in all of her clients, Glinda won many a case for the innocent man as well as the title of 'Glinda the Good'._

_Elphaba, on the other hand, did not receive a plethora of offers after Glinda's graduation. Before the end of Glinda's years at Shiz, Elphaba was hired by a law firm. Elphaba became one of the most well-known Animal activists, as well as a spitfire defense attorney. Prosecutors would quake in their boots against her, her calculated, precise and passionate defense (as well as a misconception that she was from the Vinkus) earning her a title that was popular amongst the prosecutors – The Wicked Witch of the West. _

_Sooner than either woman expected, Elphaba's great-grandfather passed away and the title of governess of Munchkinland was handed on to Elphaba. Though at time it put a strain on Glinda and Elphaba's relationship, being governess meant Elphaba had an even greater foothold in politics, finally reaching a national platform to spread the word about Animals and their plights, as did Glinda. _

_The blonde woman in question eventually left her top paying job to start, with the support of Lurline and Elphaba, a firm of her own, dedicated to helping the downtrodden, especially the poor and the Animals._

_Not before long did Elphaba tire of the high class life being governess demanded of her. She passed on the position to Nessarose, who, armed with the proper knowledge of law that Shiz had taught her, moved back to Munchkinland once again to rule the region. _

_Elphaba and Glinda on the other hand moved back to the Emerald city, and Glinda relocated her base of operations there. Glinda had no objections._

_Though sometimes things would get tough and fights would break out, Elphaba and Glinda remained together, through thick and thin, always making up in the end. When their day of marriage finally came, everyone attended from Lurline to Nessa to even Fiyero and the entirety of Glinda's sorority._

_And when their lips met on their wedding day and everyone cheered, the two then knew that what they had would last, always._

* * *

"May I have this dance?" Elphaba grinned as she outstretched her hand to Glinda. The blonde woman in turned beamed brightly as she took the offered hand in her own, and let Elphaba lead her to the dance floor as the band struck up a slow tune.

"I'd be honoured to dance with you." Glinda told Elphaba just as they began to dance. Wrapping her arms around the taller woman's slim torso, Glinda smiled and laid her head on Elphaba's shoulder.

The two made their way around the dance floor, gently swaying back and forth. And as they danced for their first time as a married couple , Elphaba brought her lips closer to Glinda's ear.

"Unlimited." Elphaba murmured. "Together we're unlimited. Together, we'll be the greatest team there's ever been."

Lifting her head to stare into Elphaba's eyes, Glinda nodded to the green woman, whose eyes held only truth and love. Smiling at the green woman, Glinda leaned in and tenderly kissed her.

As Glinda thought back to the day years ago that started all of the events that led up to this day – the happiest day of her life- in motion, she sighed and dropped her head to Elphaba's shoulder once again.

And as the entirety Glinda's sorority whooped and hollered at their former president with Shenshen, Milla and Pfannee at the lead, as Fiyero looked onto the newlyweds with a fond smile, as Kumbricia drunkenly flirted with a not exactly refusing Lurline, as Glinda's mother bawled and Nessa tried to comfort her and Glinda's father tried to spread his social ties to the new governess of Munchkinland, all Glinda could do was smile fondly and turn her face into her _wife's_ neck as she purred,

"Oh my Oz."

* * *

Annnnd were done! I know that this was late, but I hope you all enjoyed it nonetheless. Thank you to my beta who has supported me this entire time, and thank _you_, all the readers and reviewers, who encouraged me to keep going. Without you guys, I probably would have stopped LW after the second chapter.

Please review and tell me what you thought of the story!

Once again, thank you all!


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